Pegasus Magic School
by Hannah554
Summary: AU, first part of the Magical Lantis series, SG1SGA crossover where the characters of both shows are 18 year olds beginning their first year of magic school. JohnLiz, RononTeyla, CarsonLaura, JackSam, DanJan.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note – I've been working on this for ages but it's taken me a while to get round to posting it, I had a whole world to create. Hope you all enjoy it.**

Disclaimer – I do not own Stargate SG1, Atlantis or any of the characters.

Pegasus Magic School.

Chapter 1

Elizabeth Weir stepped down from the carriage running a hand over her black trousers and red shirt to smooth out the creases that had made themselves at home over the course of her long journey. Her hair was pinned back allowing the wavy dark brown locks to hang loosely around her shoulders. She turned around and accepted her suitcase from the driver. She placed the strap over her shoulder and thanked him before walking down the path and through the large gates into her new life. Pegasus Magic School was one of the best schools in all of Atlantis accepting both VIP students and regular students. Technically Elizabeth should have fallen into the former category but due to circumstances not entirely beyond her control she was in the latter.

The path led to the Admin building up ahead of her but that was not her destination. The grass on either side of the path was full of people, the teachers trying to organise all of the new students that were walking around with somewhat bewildered expressions. Some of the older students were trying to help out whilst others opted to get out of the way and headed deeper into school grounds.

Elizabeth located the table where they were dealing with students whose surnames began with U-Z and joined the queue that had formed there. It took ten minutes for her to reach the front where she gave the young woman her name. The woman then searched through the files behind her and handed her one with her name on it. She took the file and quickly got out of the way to allow the next student forward. Once she was at a sufficient distance she looked at the piece of paper that was clipped to the front of the file.

Elizabeth Weir 

_Raildon Halls, Room 327_

Now all she needed to do was figure out where Raildon Halls was, opening her file she was relieved to find the first piece of paper was in fact a map of the school. Taking the paper out she closed the file and placed the map on top of it. Raildon Halls was located at the top left of the map meaning it was at the back of school grounds. She followed the path in the directions the map told her to go reassured she was going the right way by the other new junior students that were heading in the same direction.

She finally stopped outside a large building a small sign informing her that it was indeed Raildon Halls. She went inside and immediately headed up the stairs, the three in her room number telling her that her room was on the third floor. Finally finding the correct room she opened the door and stepped inside. The room was nothing special but it was fairly large and more than adequate for it's purpose. There were two beds, two wardrobes and draws, two bedside tables, one set for her and one set for the room mate she had yet to meet. She just hoped she ended up with someone nice.

She dropped her bag onto the bed nearest the door and placed the file down next to it before walking over to the window. She had a room at the front of the building so all she could see was the rest of the school grounds. The main building blocked part of the view and she could see a few other buildings as well. She walked back over to her bed and sat down picking up the file and opening it. The next piece of paper was a notice to all new students, telling them that their first day was simply a chance to get settled in and learn their way around campus. Classes would begin tomorrow and whereas they would be granted some leniency for the first few days they were expected to be on time for lessons. There would be an assembly that afternoon for all new students in the great hall located in the main building.

The sound of the door opening caught Elizabeth's attention and she turned round to see a young woman walking into the room. She had brown eyes and light brown hair that was currently tied back in a loose pony tail allowing several strands to fall to either side of her face. She was wearing black trousers with a blue shirt and the a suitcase similar to Elizabeth's was currently at her side. She smiled warmly at Elizabeth as she closed the door behind her and walked further into the room.

She immediately dropped her bag on the remaining bed balancing her file on top of it before turning back to Elizabeth. "You must be my room mate, I'm Teyla Emmagan," the woman greeted holding out her hand which Elizabeth happily accepted.

"Elizabeth Weir," she replied trying to figure out why her name sounded familiar before it finally hit her. "Emmagan, as in the Governor of Athos?" she questioned curiously.

"My father," Teyla told her and Elizabeth cocked her head to the side.

"If you're a Governor's daughter shouldn't you have been roomed in Entrix Towers?" she asked. All students that were considered important or of a higher class, including Governors children were roomed in Entrix Towers for the girls and Beltry Towers for the boys. There they could have their own room and those that were fortunate enough to get rooms higher up the tower also got much better views from their windows.

"I should have but I chose to be roomed here instead, the majority of the people in those towers are stereotypical spoilt rich kids. I prefer to be down here with the more normal people than up there with them," Teyla explained honestly and looked at Elizabeth with slight amusement. "I am not the only one that should be up there, surely the daughter of the Governor of Tralos would be given a VIP room."

"That's a long and complicated story but the short version is, I wasn't," Elizabeth replied simply and Teyla obviously her sensed her desire to change the subject because she turned around and opened her suit case.

"Do you know anybody here?" she asked as she began unpacking her clothes and taking them over to the draws.

"No, not really," Elizabeth responded as she too began to unpack her things "Do you?"

"No, before today I haven't really left Athos, I went on sever trips with my father, many of them to Alteran City," Teyla informed her and Elizabeth nodded her head silently as they continued to unpack. The bathroom was located on her side of the room so she took her toiletries, tooth brush and such through the door. Placing everything in the cabinet above the sink before she headed back into the bedroom.

Teyla smiled as she passed by her taking her own toiletries into the bathroom and Elizabeth picked up her now empty suit case placing it in the bottom of her wardrobe and closing the door. Teyla came back into the room as Elizabeth sat down on her bed and once again opened her file to look through the remaining documents. There was a list of rules, the most important of which was that Junior students were not to use magic outside of the class room.

She found her class schedule as well as various other documents such as instructions in the event of emergencies. She skimmed through most of it placing the file in the draw beside her bed keeping only the map and her schedule with her.

"Want to take a look around the school, try and figure out where all our classes are?" Teyla asked having finished unpacking and reading through her own file. Elizabeth nodded after a moment picking up the two remaining documents as she followed Teyla out of the room. There were several young girls in the hall way all attempting to locate their rooms and Teyla and Elizabeth had to dodge and weave their way out of the building.

She took in her surroundings, the large building next to the one she had just exited was Maivra Halls, the senior girls dormitories. Students were divided into two groups, juniors which were students in years 1-3 and Seniors which were students in years 4 and 5. Whilst Seniors had more freedoms and privileges than juniors they also had a lot more work.

The two girls followed the path past the Exam Building and Entrix Towers to find the Gym Building and the Games field. Beyond that was a line of trees which the map told them was all part of school ground right up to the river at the other side. Continuing along the path they passed the main building where all of the class rooms were, the cafeteria and Ardon Halls where the teachers stayed. On their left was Demiro Halls the Junior boys dorms and Temnos Halls, the senior boys dorms. The path led them inbetween Ardon Halls and the Admin Building, past Beltry Towers, the library and finally Senior Halls which was pretty much a common area for Seniors.

Seeing their own dorm building up ahead once again they turned left and headed through one of the many entrances to the main building. Taking their schedules out of their pockets they both began locating their various class rooms discovering that many of their lessons were together.

"I supposed they wanted to keep the two Governor's daughters that weren't staying in the towers together," Teyla stated and although the woman was joking Elizabeth thought it was probably true. From what little she knew it was very unusual for anyone who should fall into the VIP student category to not be roomed in the towers.

With the majority of their class rooms located and both of them fairly sure they could easily find those that remained the two of them decided to head to the cafeteria for lunch, it had taken them the better part of the morning to tour the campus and locate all their class rooms and Elizabeth was fairly sure she was going to get lost several times over the next few days. At eighteen years of age it seemed a somewhat overwhelming change but she was glad to finally be away from home. She had been waiting for this day since her magical ability had begun to manifest itself at the early age of thirteen. Generally magical ability began to manifest in the late teenage years which was why Magic School didn't start until the age of eighteen.

The cafeteria was fairly empty when they arrived with it still being a little early for lunch. They joined the short queue at the counter and got their food before sitting down at an empty table.

"Do you know what you want to do after you leave Pegasus?" Teyla asked as they ate their lunches.

"More or less, I want to go to Alteran City and join the Political Society so that I can make a few waves but I might have to return to Tralos to take over as Governess when my father dies," she informed her and Teyla nodded.

"Don't agree with the Atlantis Courts current political stance, I don't blame you neither do I. My fathers been lobbying against it for years but there's only so much difference one man in the Court can make though I do know there are others who share his opinion," Teyla told her with a shrug.

"What about you, do you have plans after Pegasus?" Elizabeth questioned.

"I want to join the Protectorates Guild but like you I will probably have to take over as Governess of Athos," she replied and Elizabeth nodded her head slowly. The Protectorates Guild were an Elite group of people whose job it was to investigate and prevent the use of Dark Magic. They were well respected because of the types of risks they took in order to protect Atlantis.

Elizabeth had barely noticed but the cafeteria had been quickly filling up whilst they'd been eating. There were now very few tables left completely empty as both old and new students began to arrive for lunch. Fortunately both she and Teyla were finished and they quickly cleared the table throwing their rubbish in the nearby bin before leaving through the closest door.

"Heads up," they heard a male voice shout and Teyla quickly pulled Elizabeth to the side just in time to avoid being hit by in the incoming football. The young brown haired, brown eyed man that was approaching had obviously been the culprit and he looked at her apologetically as Teyla picked up the football and handed it to him. "Sorry about that," he told them directing the statement more at Elizabeth than Teyla.

"It's fine," she replied and before she could carry on walking Teyla decided to start up a conversation.

"You should be more careful where you throw things," she informed him with a smile as she reached her hand out. "I'm Teyla Emmagan, this is Elizabeth Weir."

"Jack O'Neill and you're right I should be more careful where I throw things but just for the record, it wasn't me that threw the ball," Jack stated turning around to the other young man that was approaching. "John, why don't you apologise to the nice ladies that you almost impaled."

The comment made both Elizabeth and Teyla smile and John shrugged apologetically "Sorry."

"There, now we can all be friends," Jack announced "This idiot here is John Sheppard," Jack introduced and Teyla shook his hand.

"Teyla Emmagan and Elizabeth Weir," Teyla informed him and John smiled as he reached for Elizabeth's hand.

"Nice to meet you Elizabeth," he greeted and she reached for his outstretched hand.

"Nice to meet you too," she replied.

"Well, we have to go find other poor innocent women to try and knock out with footballs, but we'll see you around," Jack stated before he and John left. Teyla shook her head and laughed softly.

"Do you wanna go and check out the river?" she questioned hopefully and Elizabeth nodded her head. It took only ten minutes to make it through the tree line that separated the river from the rest of campus. The crystal clear blue water shimmered in the summer sunlight that was currently shinning down on it. The river banks were covered in lush green grass and Elizabeth imagined she'd spend a lot of time here studying.

The two women walked along the side of the river until they reached the chest high wall that surrounded the school grounds. "We should go to the Great Hall, the assembly starts soon," Elizabeth announced as she glanced at her watch. They made their way to the main building and between the two of them remembered the way to the Great Hall.

There were already a lot of students there and many of the seats were already taken. They located two empty ones fairly near the front and sat down quickly before they could be taken. The noise level in the hall grew as more and more students filed in and took it upon themselves to start making friends. After twenty minutes a plump middle aged women entered the room, her brown hair was showing the first sign of grey and the few wrinkles on her face threatened to give away her age to anyone who bothered to look. Her glasses hung loosely around her neck on a short black strap and the black suit she wore gave her an all business look.

She walked up to the podium at the front of the hall and the room quickly fell silent as the students settled down to listen. "Welcome to Pegasus Magic School, I am Principle Morlin. I know for many of you your move to Pegasus will be a big change for you. The first thing I want to do is get some basic rules out of the way, the most important of which is that Junior students must not use magic outside the classrooms. The punishment if you are caught doing so can range from detention to expulsion. Secondly, all students must be in their dorm rooms by curfew, during the summer that is 10.30 pm, during the winter it is 10.00 pm and you are not to leave again until 6am, this is for your safety so please stick to your curfew. Third and this should go without saying but magic is not to be used on another person. There are exceptions made for certain Specialist courses but as you do not select those until your senior years these exceptions do not apply to you."

Elizabeth listened carefully as Principle Morlin continued to list the rules many of which she had read from her file but she figured most students wouldn't have bothered reading it. She heard several students behind her feign disappointment when they were informed Gaining Magic was strictly forbidden, including academic gain. Morlin then went onto talk about the school in general and what was expected of them as students. Half the room looked like they were falling asleep by the time she'd finished and she finally dismissed them with a 'good luck and I hope you enjoy your stay here at Pegasus'.

Teyla eagerly jumped up from her chair all but dragging Elizabeth along with her. They joined the crowd filling out of the door in a surprisingly orderly way considering it was a bunch of eighteen year olds that had just had to endure an hour of an incredibly boring talk. It was a relief when they made it back to their dorm and both girls set to work on writing letter home to let their families know they had arrived safely.

Elizabeth addressed the letter to her father, it was nothing special and there was none of the usual pleasantries and warmth you'd expect in a letter from daughter to father. She let him know she had arrived that her room mate was nice and the school was so big she was probably going to get lost several times. When she'd finished she read it through and was almost sad at the cold emotionless feel it had but letters between her and her father could be no other way.

She folded the paper and put it in the envelope placing it on her nightstand ready to be posted later. Looking at the time she realised it was already getting late and she couldn't believe how fast her first day at Pegasus had gone. Her stomach made a noise to remind her she hadn't eaten since lunch and Teyla looked over at her and smiled.

"Perhaps we should go to the cafeteria before my stomach joins yours," Teyla announced and Elizabeth returned her smile as she stood up to follow her room mate. Pegasus was definitely going to prove to be an interesting chapter in her life.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Fyd818 – **I'm glad you like the concept and that you like the crossover even though you're not a big fan. It will probably be slightly more SGA than SG1 though. The scene where John almost hit Liz and Teyla with a football pretty much wrote itself, I mean seriously my hands were writing without much input from my brain lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**SassafrasGrey – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like the concept and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph7085 – **Sorry it took so long to update but as per demand, here is the next part. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Loserbaby – **I'm glad you like the story so far and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well, thanks for the review.

**Scifi lemon** – Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Louise – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like the story and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 2

Elizabeth and Teyla arrived at their first lesson together; many of the students had yet to arrive, most of them probably still trying to find the classroom. The class room was fairly large and could probably accommodate about thirty students at a time. There were five long benches for the students to sit at and one large desk in front of them obviously for the teacher. Behind the desk was a huge white board where the teachers could make notes for the students to copy. The two girls picked out chairs on the third row and sat down taking out their pencil cases and pads of paper. A few students were hanging around near the door talking amongst themselves until they realised the seats in the classroom were quickly being taken up. Elizabeth recognised two of them as the guys who had thrown a football at them yesterday, John and Jack.

Both of them looked around the classroom noticing the two empty chairs next to Elizabeth and they both made their way over. John dropped down into the seat next to her with Jack on the other side of him. John flashed her a quick grin before taking his things out of his bag and carelessly tossing them onto the desk in front of him.

A middle aged man walk into the room, his greying hair giving away his years of experience and the class fell silent as he moved to stand behind the teacher's desk at the front of the class room.

"Good afternoon students and welcome to Spell Casting, I'm Professor Penrose," the man introduced and Elizabeth could here Jack and John whispering to each other beside her though she couldn't tell what they were saying.

"Spell casting can be both an amazing and dangerous craft, if you mispronounce a single word in the smallest way it can completely change the spell. This year we are going to be working mostly on learning how to read and pronounce spells correctly as well as learning a few basic spells." Penrose began and Elizabeth opened her pad of paper to begin making notes.

On her right Teyla was also making detailed notes however on her left John was doodling and Jack was scribbling the occasional important piece of information down around his doodles. Elizabeth resisted the urge to shake her head at them, it was only the first lesson and they were already not paying attention. She kind of hoped they accidentally jinxed themselves, not in a bad way but just enough to make them wish they'd paid more attention.

"Most spells are difficult to reverse once they've been cast so you should always consider the consequences of whatever spell you cast, even the simple spells that you don't think would do any harm," her teacher continued and Elizabeth noted his words down on her paper.

There were several voices coming from behind her and Elizabeth turned her head to see a small group of students at the back of the room talking amongst themselves, however unlike the whispers between John and Jack their conversation was loud enough for the whole class to here. "Excuse me Mr…" Penrose trailed off waiting for the main culprit of the loud conversation to fill in his name as the entire class turned to look at him.

"Kolya," the young man supplied eyeing the teacher with a cold expression however Penrose seemed unfazed by it.

"Mr Kolya is there something you'd like to share with the class?" he asked and Kolya glared at him for a second before shaking his head. "Good, then perhaps we can pay attention."

Penrose went back to teaching the class without further interruption from Kolya and even Jack and John had lowered the volume of their occasional whispers. John had at last started to make the occasional note on his pad of paper and Jack seemed to have focused on the lesson. Elizabeth was on her third page of notes when Penrose announced the end of the lesson an hour later.

"I'd like all of you to pick up one of these text books on the way out, it's called Spell Casting basics and you're going to need them for the rest of the year so please try not to lose them. Thank you all for being a wonderful first class and I hope you enjoy the rest of your first day," Penrose finished the lesson and dismissed them all. Elizabeth gathered up her things and put them back in the black bag that had spent the lesson on the floor by her feet. She threw the strap over shoulder and waited for Teyla to finish up before the two women headed out of the classroom picking up the text book along the way.

"I have potions now so I'll see you third period," Teyla announced and Elizabeth nodded her head before her room mate walked away.

"Hey, I have potions too, wait up!" Jack called running after her and Elizabeth shook her head in amusement before she turned around to head toward the cafeteria. She'd been too nervous about her first lesson to eat breakfast that morning but now that the first lesson was over her hunger was beginning to catch up to her.

"So what do you have now?" John asked as he fell in step beside her.

"Free Period," she replied and John smiled the same smile he'd given her at the beginning of the lesson. 

"Me too," he told her sounding rather happy about it "So anyway, I knew I recognised your name when your friend introduced you yesterday and it was bugging me all day until Jack finally took pity on me and told me who you were. You're the daughter of the Governor of Tralos."

"That's right," Elizabeth responded simply and John looked at her curiously as if trying to figure out why she wasn't being conversational.

"So, what's Entrix Towers like, I better it's nicer than Beltry?" he questioned and Elizabeth shrugged.

"I wouldn't know I don't stay there," she told him and she saw the look of curiosity on his face increase.

"But you're a Governors daughter," he stated obviously.

"I know but I don't stay in the Towers, neither does Teyla and she's a Governors daughter," Elizabeth informed him hoping he wouldn't ask her why she was staying in the standard dorms instead of the Towers.

"She is?" he asked "Which County?"

"Athos," she replied and he nodded his head slowly "Shall I take it you stay in Beltry Towers?" she questioned.

"I do," he told her and at her questioning look he continued "Son of the Governor of Cadera," he informed her with a shrug.

The two of them finally made it to the cafeteria where Elizabeth ordered her breakfast and John got himself a drink. They found an empty table and sat down; John reached into his bag and took out his schedule grimacing when he saw what his next lesson was. "Ouch, Phys Ed on the first day," he commented. He'd always liked Phys Ed, even during high school when he'd had the meanest teacher ever to grace the halls the school, but having it on the first day at a new school didn't seem like the most fun idea.

"I have that next too," Elizabeth told him before taking another bite of the toast she'd purchased.

"Can I see your schedule?" he asked her and she nodded as she rubbed her hands together in an effort to remove some of the crumbs that were there before she took the requested item from her bag and handed it to him.

"We probably have a lot of lessons together," she stated.

"What makes you say that?" he asked her studying the paper in front of him "You're right… but what makes you say that?"

"Makes sense," she shrugged and he eyed her curiously for a moment before going back to his drink and handing her the schedule back. "How long have you known Jack?"

"Twenty four hours," he replied with a smile.

"Really, you too just seem… I don't know, like you've known each other forever," she told him.

"Yeah, I know, it's kinda weird," John stated thoughtfully.

"Does he stay in the towers?" she questioned.

"Yeah, he's another Governors kid, seems there's a lot of us this year, his rooms down the hall from mine," he informed her as she used her napkin to clean her hand before tossing it into the bin earning a nod of approval from John for the well aimed shot.

"Which county do his parents govern?" she asked.

"Earleth," he told her "So are you wanting to get into any guild?" he questioned.

"You don't get to pick which guild you're accepted into or even if you're accepted, they pick you so I figure there's no point in worrying about it," she told him honestly.

"Yeah but it doesn't hurt to hope," he informed her "Whether or not you get into a guild and which one you get in can affect your entire life at Magic school. You can't tell me that you don't have your sights set on one."

"Yes I can," she replied and he narrowed his eyes at her in a half serious glare.

"Well I want to get into Atala," he stated and Elizabeth resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Of course he wanted to get into Atala, she'd only been there for a day and she already knew that most people wanted to be in the Atala guild. There were twelve guilds at Pegasus but two of them were better than all the others, Atala and Corlith. Both were far more selective about who they took in though Corlith was well known for swaying to the darker side of magic.

"If you actually pay attention in class and quit whispering all the time you might actually get in," she told him bitterly, annoyed by the amount of times his whispering had distracted her in Spell Casting.

"Sorry," he told her sheepishly before bringing his drink back to his lips again.

- - -

Teyla sat next to Jack in one of the schools potions labs listening to Professor Trel as he talked about the art of potion making in what sounded like a very well practiced speech. Jack seemed to have most of his attention on the lesson which was a change from their previous class; she'd been able to hear him and John whispering at the other side of Elizabeth the entire time. The first thing they'd been instructed to do was select a lab partner, Jack had been quick to ask her and she'd been more than happy to accept.

"When putting ingredients into a potion you must take extra care in your measurements, we don't want anybody blowing up the school. Some of the ingredients you'll be working with over the next five years are dangerous and if measured incorrectly could have horrible consequences," Trel continued in his monotone voice that Teyla was sure would put her to sleep several times over the course of the year. Jack was already losing the battle to keep his concentration as his eyes started to drift shut and Teyla elbowed him gently in the side.

"Hey," he said catching the attention of the rest of the class as well as the teacher who halted his speech.

"Is there a problem Mr…?" he asked and Jack shook his head.

"O'Neill and no sir," he replied and the teacher went back to his speech. Jack turned to Teyla glaring at her through narrowed eyes as she continued to hold back her laugh. "What did you do that for?"

"You were falling asleep," she responded successfully suppressing her laughter.

"And?" he questioned "You should have just let me his voice is enough to make most people sleep."

"I didn't think your snoring would be constructive to the lesson," she explained with a smile making him glare at her once more.

"I do not snore," he told her and Teyla's smile widened.

"You already fell asleep once this lesson, remember," Teyla informed him meaningfully and Jack continued to glare at her.

"I did not snore," he told her in outrage and Teyla brought a hand to her mouth to stifle her laughter.

"Yeah, you're right, you didn't," she informed him.

"You're just mean," he stated and the teacher turned to look at him once again.

"Mr O'Neill if you have something to share please share it with the rest of the class," he instructed and the entire class turned to look at him.

"Nothing to share sir," he told him and Teyla had to duck her head down so the teacher wouldn't see her silent laughter.

"Then could you please pay attention and refrain from talking?" he questioned but didn't wait for an answer before he turned his attention back to the rest of the class. Teyla was still laughing silently and Jack elbowed her arm lightly, she was fairly sure that despite her boring teacher she was actually going to enjoy potions.

- - -

Elizabeth walked out of the gym building through the exit from the girls changing rooms. She was wearing the same summer sports kit that all of the other girls were wearing, dark blue shorts and a light blue top that had the schools insignia on it, a triangle with part of the bottom line missing and a circle above it. The light blue knee high socks were the same shade as the top and her darker coloured trainers completed the outfit. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail to keep it out of the way during the lesson. Teyla was a few steps behind her dressed identically as the rest of the girls filed out of the gym building and onto the games field.

The guys were all outside already dressed in a more male version of what the girls were wearing. She could see Jack and John amongst them talking to each other. Teyla had been telling her very animatedly about her potions lesson and how she'd got Jack into trouble, she seemed very pleased with herself and Elizabeth found herself laughing along with her room mate.

Once the last of the girls were out on the field one of the two teachers blew his whistle and called for attention. Everyone stopped what they were doing and move toward him where they sat down on the grass. Elizabeth and Teyla joined them and a moment later John and Jack dropped down beside them.

"Okay, I'm Coach Hollam and this is Coach Greyler" he told them gesturing to the woman by his side. Both teachers were by far the youngest she'd seen so far, granted she'd only had one lesson but she'd seen several of them around campus and many of them appeared to be in their late thirties or older. These too though looked to be in their late twenties, Hollam had short brown hair and brown eyes whilst Greyler had long blonde hair that was currently tied up and blue eyes and both of them appeared to be in perfect physical shape.

"We'll be your Phys Ed teachers. Now we prefer to teach boys and girls together but for some activities it will be necessary to split you up however you will be working together for the most part. We know that some of you will enjoy Phys Ed and some of you will dread it but all we ask of you is that you try. Now I'm sure that you will have all had at least one lesson already today and that you spent it sat down whilst your teachers explained the basics of the course. Unfortunately for most lessons that's necessary however it isn't for Phys Ed so we're going to get started straight away," Hollam explained.

"Now, we're gonna play a game of soccer so do you want to pick teams or play boys vs. girls?" Greyler asked and there was huge chorus of boys vs. girls from the students which she took as a decision. Everyone stood up girls going in one direction with the boys going in the other whilst everyone sorted out who would be playing where. Once it was agreed those would be playing moved onto the pitch while the rest took up positions on the grass to watch.

The boys finally got into place ready to play and Elizabeth saw both John and Jack take up positions on the pitch. Greyler blew her whistle to signal the start of the game and with seconds the ball was being kicked all over the field with voices shouting to one another. The boys got the ball first and were able to score the first two goals of the game however the third went to the girls when someone kicked the ball to Teyla. She ran rings around three guys including Jack and kicked the ball toward the net, the goal keeper tried to dive toward it but he wasn't fast enough and the girls erupted in cheers at their first goal.

They boys scored again but another girl whose name escaped Elizabeth managed to score once again before half time. Elizabeth picked up her bottle of water taking a drink as she dropped to the floor beside Teyla. They used their five minutes to recuperate before they were sent back in again. Only minutes into the second half Teyla got hold of the ball but Jack was blocking her way so she kicked it to Elizabeth who unfortunately had John in her path.

She made her way toward him keeping the ball close to her feet and once she was close enough she moved to kick the ball only to change direction at the last second and run past John taking a clear shot at the goal and sending the ball flying past the keeper into the net.

There were more cheers as Elizabeth evened the score and she was patted on the back several times. The game continued until Hollam's whistle signalled them all to stop with the guys winning by only one point. Though they seemed somewhat pleased that they had won they were all dismayed at how close the girls had come to beating them. They headed back inside to shower and change before heading to the cafeteria for lunch. Jack and John were waiting outside the girls changing rooms when Teyla and Elizabeth finally emerged and the four of them headed toward the cafeteria.

"You two were good," Jack told them reluctantly and whilst Elizabeth merely shrugged Teyla gave them a cheeky 'I know'.

In the cafeteria they were fortunate to find an empty table and they all quickly sat down with their meals before it was taken. Jack was trying to unfold his schedule one handed whilst eating pizza with his other hand. Elizabeth was sat opposite him and finally took pity on him; taking the paper from his hands she unfolded it and glanced at his schedule.

"You're free next period," she told him folding the paper back up and putting it out of the way. Jack smiled happily at the thought of a free period as he took another bite of his pizza.

"So am I," Teyla replied without even looking at her schedule and Elizabeth opened hers to figure out where she was.

"General Magic," John told her and Elizabeth gave him a curious look as she put her schedule away again.

"I saw your schedule earlier remember, you're in the same lessons as me all day," he informed her and Elizabeth nodded her head.

"Oh joy," she responded sarcastically and John narrowed his eyes at her.

Elizabeth went back to eating her fries, Jack who had only got himself pizza kept trying to steal them and after several attempts at batting his hand away she relented. She wasn't sure how it had happened but somehow the four of them seemed to have come together in a little group.

- - -

General Magic had been pretty much the same as Spell Casting, they'd had a big long lecture about what General Magic was, what the course entailed and the various dangers they would come across. They'd been given another text book to haul around with them and then been dismissed. John had been much quieter during the lesson than when he'd been with Jack in Spell Casting though once Jack and Teyla had found them outside the Magical Ethics classroom he'd started talking non stop again.

Their Magical Ethics teacher, Professor Colbrun was yet another middle aged teacher, he had greying hair and brown eyes though his teaching style already seemed different. He'd given them a shorter version of the introductory talk before diving straight into the work. He'd handed them all yet another text book and started teaching them about the basic principles of magical ethics.

Elizabeth and Teyla were dutifully making notes both from the teacher's words and the text book. Jack and John had ceased talking so much when they realised they were actually going to get taught something this lesson. Both of them were making notes though they weren't anywhere as detailed as they should be and they were interrupted by the occasional bit of art work.

"Can anyone tell me what the Ethical Code is and why it was created?" Colbrun asked and only two hands rose including Elizabeth's.

"Miss…?" the teacher questioned as he gestured to Elizabeth.

"Weir," she told him before answering the original question. "The Ethical code is the laws that govern the ethical use of magic. It was created after a man named Oliver Trion used his powers to cause havoc across Atlantis for his own personal amusement. No one could stop him though because there were no laws to prevent him doing what he was doing."

"Very good," he stated with a smile and continued with the lesson "Oliver Trion was eventually stopped when a new series of Laws which are now known as the Ethical Code were passed."

The rest of the lesson passed similarly with Colburn asking the odd question and occasionally getting an answer from the students. When he dismissed them Elizabeth knew without looking at her schedule that her sixth and final period was free. She was somewhat glad to see the end of her first day of lessons.

After eating dinner in the cafeteria Teyla and Elizabeth left the two boys and headed back to their dorm room. Elizabeth dropped the now ridiculously heavy bag onto the bed. She knew she should have dropped her books off in her room at lunch time but by the time she'd finished her lunch she hadn't had time to make it here before her next lesson. She opened her bag and took out all the books she had accumulated over the day placing them on one of the two shelves near the desk in the room.

Teyla placed hers on the shelf below before collapsing onto her bed with tired sigh. Elizabeth announced she was going to take shower and Teyla turned her head into her pillow giving her a muffled reply of acknowledgement before Elizabeth disappeared into the bathroom.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**Scifi Lemon – **Glad you liked the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too, thanks for the review.

**Fyd818 – **Jack and John always struck me as the type to buddy up as well; they're both so alike and so different at the same time lol. Kolya does come across as the trouble making type doesn't he. I had a biology teacher like Trel, it makes staying awake through an already boring lesson really hard. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph7085 – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I hope you like this one too,

**Dreamer20715 – **I'm glad you liked the last chapter and the friendships that are developing. Sorry about the grammar mistakes. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

- - -

Chapter 3

John's first period had been a free so he'd been able to sleep in that morning. He'd woken up at about 9AM and after he'd had a quick shower he'd dressed and met Elizabeth in the cafeteria. She'd also used her free period as a chance to sleep in though Teyla had potions first period and had apparently muttered bitterly under her breath whilst she'd been getting ready.

General Magic had been slightly more interesting than it had been yesterday, they'd actually started learning something which had helped to hold John's interest if only for a little while. They all had a free period after that so John and Elizabeth had had a two hour lunch break. Jack and Teyla had been free whilst John had been in General Magic so they'd actually had a three hour lunch which just seemed unfair. When their long lunch had finished the four of them headed toward the main building for their afternoon lessons.

"I think we all have Sociology next," Jack announced as he looked at his schedule.

"Well I do," Teyla replied.

"Me too," Elizabeth added after she fished her schedule out of her bag.

"Sociology it is then," John declared as they made their way through the corridor of the building toward their next lesson.

"Are there any lessons I don't have with you?" Elizabeth asked and John shook his head.

"Nope," he told her and Elizabeth sighed.

"I think I'm gonna ask for a transfer, I hear Abydos Magic school is lovely," she stated and John glared at her through narrowed eyes.

"It might be lovely but it's not as good as Pegasus, don't let this idiot run you out of a good school," Jack told her smiling when John turned his glare on him.

"Perhaps we should hurry before we are late," Teyla said before she and Elizabeth hurried down the corridor a few steps in front of the boys. There were only a few seats left in the Sociology classroom and John quickly spotted four free ones that were next to each other. He and Jack rushed forward each grabbing a girls arm as they made a beeline for the seats. Elizabeth and Teyla verbally protested to being dragged but didn't put up any resistance. Jack sat on the end of the row with Teyla next to him, then Elizabeth and finally John. They ignored the pouts of another group of kids who'd wanted those seats.

"Welcome students, I'll be your sociology teacher for the year, my name is Professor Anelle," an older looking woman told them. Her grey hair was pinned back into a bun and her brown eyes scanned the room. John made himself more comfortable as he prepared to endure yet another introductory talk.

- - -

Their first Mythology and World of Magic lessons had been more of the same introduction stuff. World of Magic had been a little more interesting since their teacher, Professor Niya, seemed to genuinely love her subject and it definitely shone through. Their second day of lessons finally came to a close and John couldn't get out of the main building fast enough.

"Let's go shopping," Teyla suggested cheerfully and Jack and John both shook their heads emphatically.

"Let's not," Jack countered.

"I think it's a great idea, I've been wanting to see the town anyway," Elizabeth responded and both men looked at her incredulously.

"It's a half hour walk to the nearest town," John groaned but Teyla simply smiled.

"I'm sure there a plenty of things for the two of you to do whilst we shop," she mused "There'll be pubs and…"

"I'm in," Jack announced before Teyla could come up with any more reasons for them to tag along. She knew that she and Elizabeth could easily go without them but she didn't fancy walking through the countryside alone, there was a reason the school was walled off.

"Me too," John added and Elizabeth rolled her eyes at them before she turned to Teyla.

"We should drop our things off in the room before we leave," she suggested and Teyla nodded in agreement. "We'll meet you outside the cafeteria," she told the boys who nodded before heading off toward their dorms to rid themselves of their own books. Elizabeth and Teyla made their way to their room and dropped their larger school bags on their beds. They picked up their smaller purses so they could carry the essentials with them and headed to the cafeteria where John and Jack were waiting.

"Took you long enough," John stated and Elizabeth resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him again.

"Where's the nearest exit?" she asked Teyla who looked thoughtful for a moment as she tried to picture the map of the school in her head.

"I think it's this way," she stated as she headed toward the gym building. Elizabeth fell in step beside her with John and Jack just behind them. They crossed the games field and entered the tree line before coming to the gate that released them from school grounds and onto the path that would lead them to the town. The path soon joined the road and they followed it through the trees.

Teyla and Elizabeth talked almost non stop the entire way to the town. Actually Teyla did most of the talking and Elizabeth interjected when she could. John and Jack were talking about football and the conversation only got more excited when they started comparing their home teams. They were both adamant their county's team was better and Teyla leaned closer to Elizabeth "Athos would wipe the floor with both of them," she whispered conspiratorially and Elizabeth smiled in amusement at her. She'd never understood why people got so worked up over the sport but if it made them happy who was she to judge.

They finally reached the town just after 5.00PM and they quickly realised it would take them a few hours to explore all the stores and the market place. "My first priority right now is dinner," John announced and Jack and Teyla voiced their agreement as Elizabeth located a small café nearby.

Inside the room was full of rectangular tables spaced out evenly and there were people sitting at many of them, Elizabeth recognised a few of them as students. Jack led them to a table near the window and Elizabeth and Teyla sat down first shimmying along the seats to make room for John and Jack. It didn't take them long to decide what they wanted and the waitress took their orders and left.

Dinner was eaten quickly, everyone was eager to get out and explore the town in the time they had. It took Jack and John only a few minutes to locate a pub and the group stopped outside it. "Okay so, curfew is 10.30 but it starts getting dark around 10.00 so I'd rather be back in school grounds by then," Teyla stated.

"It's a little after 6.00 now," Jack replied "So we'll meet you back here in three hours."

"Sounds good," Elizabeth responded as she and Teyla turned to walk down the street.

"Be careful," they heard Jack shouted and Elizabeth looked behind her in time to see the two men enter the pub. Teyla grabbed hold of her arm and let out an excited squeal when she saw one of the shops.

"Clothes store," she squealed excitedly as she dragged Elizabeth toward it. The store seemed far bigger on the inside than it had on the outside, there were rows and rows of clothes lined up and within minutes Teyla had her arms filled with what she wanted to try on… and they hadn't even made it a quarter of the way through the store. "Aren't you going to get anything?" she asked and Elizabeth hesitated a moment before answering. Her father sent her weekly allowance but she didn't really want to blow it all on clothes.

"I don't want to spend all my money in one store," Elizabeth replied and Teyla just smiled in response before diving back into the clothes racks and handing Elizabeth various items.

"A few things won't hurt and besides half the fun is trying them on," Teyla informed her and Elizabeth sighed at the increasing weight in her arms. Once Teyla was satisfied Elizabeth had enough clothes to try on they made their way toward the changing room. They headed into the cubicles that were separated only by a thick, dark green curtain and began trying the different clothes on. Teyla found herself three new outfits and Elizabeth opted to only buy one.

The next shop Teyla dragged her into was a shoe shop and Elizabeth was fairly sure her room mate had tried on half the shoes in the shop though she only bought one pair. Elizabeth finally managed to get her into a book shop where Elizabeth bought herself a book to read, she'd forgotten to pack any when she'd left home and then Teyla dragged her off in search of more clothes.

- - -

Almost an hour after they entered the pub Jack and John were only half way through their first pint. They decided there was no point getting drunk especially since they had to walk back to the school and they were sure it would be frowned upon if they were caught in that state. Elizabeth and Teyla probably wouldn't be too pleased either if they had to drag their drunken, semi conscious asses back to the school.

The door to the pub opened and two young women walked in carrying a few shopping bags. One of them was a blonde and the other was a petite brunette and they were both laughing at what sounded like someone's attempt to flirt with them. They approached the bar and dropped their bags next two empty bar stools before they sat down and ordered their drinks.

"Jack," The brunette greeted and Jack looked at her with a smile.

"Hey Janet, didn't think shopping was your thing," he teased and his friend laughed softly as the bartender gave the two girls their drinks.

"I like to shop as much as the next girl, just in smaller doses, hey John," Janet said receiving a short greeting from John. The two of them had met yesterday through Jack though neither man knew who the blonde was. "Oh where are my manners?" Janet questioned herself rhetorically. "Jack, John this is Laura."

The three people exchanged greetings and before long they were chatting away over their drinks. "My father is the Governors doctor," Janet explained when Laura asked how she and Jack knew each other. "And Jack is the Governors son so naturally our paths crossed many times as we were growing up. When we were kids the two of us use to play in the Governors mansion and cause all kinds of trouble."

"Yeah the only thing that changed as we grew up was the trouble became more serious," Jack joked "I still can't believe you set my house on fire."

"It was an accident," Janet replied adamantly "Besides it was just a little fire, no one got hurt and the only thing that got damaged was that ugly chair. What are the two of you doing in town anyway?"

"Our friends wanted to come shopping and whilst we were happy to tag along for the walk there was no way we were going shopping with them," John stated "So we decided to hang out at the pub and wait for them to finish up."

"How gentlemanly of you, escorting the girls through the forest," Laura replied with the barest hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Yeah it was the chance to go to the pub that sold it for us," Jack relied half seriously before he ordered himself another drink. Time flew by and before they knew it, it was time to meet up with Teyla and Elizabeth. The four of them headed out of the pub together to where they saw Teyla and Elizabeth heading towards them with more bags than anybody should be capable of carrying.

"Have fun?" John questioned in amusement.

"Most of these are Teyla's," Elizabeth stated as John started to take some of the bags from her hands.

"I would have bought more but I didn't think we'd be able to carry it," Teyla told them before Jack introduced the two new members of their party. The six of them made their way out of town and back into the forest.

"Have you guys had defensive magic yet?" Janet asked and John shook his head in response. "Well the teacher, Professor Mathos, is a creep so make sure you don't sit at the front of the class."

"Why?" Teyla asked curiously.

"Because he's good looking, charming and he knows it, I'm fairly certain he expects all his female students to fall head over heals in love with him. Whenever he thinks no ones looking he checks out the girls in his class and if you're sat at the front he tends to look more," Janet explained.

"Surely someone should complain about him," Jack stated.

"They have," Laura replied "We found out from one of the senior students, there have been several complaints against him but nothing could ever be proven."

"The thing is, most of the students he does this too, don't care because they do fall for his stupid charms so they don't report him," Janet told them shaking her head.

"Well then," John began "We're definitely sitting at the back of that class room."

The sun was only just beginning to set when they arrived back at the school, Elizabeth and Teyla took their bags back from Jack and John before they parted ways. Janet and Laura's dorm were in the same building so the four girls made their way across the games field and back to Raildon Halls before they too parted ways. Elizabeth dropped the many shopping bags onto her bed and separated the few that were hers from the majority that were Teyla's and handed them to her room mate.

Teyla was already busy putting her new things away and Elizabeth put her few new outfits and one new pair of shoes into her wardrobe. She placed her book on her night stand as she turned to see Teyla still putting her own possessions away. It looked like it was going to take her a while so Elizabeth stepped for ward to help her.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**Steph7085 – **Thanks for the review, I love Janet and Laura too and they just seem like the type to be friends. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Fyd818** – I'm glad you liked the shopping trip and the back story for Jack and Janet, they seem like the type to cause trouble in their younger years. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Dreamer22 **– Yep Laura is Laura Cadman, I love her character and I could pass up the opportunity to write her as an eighteen year old. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

- - -

Chapter 4

John was walking along the corridor next to Teyla with Elizabeth and Jack slightly behind them. He'd had to endure yet more introductory stuff in his first History lesson and he was sure there'd be more to come over the course of the day.

They arrived outside the defence classroom for their first lesson with Professor Mathos. Janet and Laura's story about him being a creep was currently running circles in John's head and he and Jack had insisted they all but sprint to the classroom in order to ensure they got seats at the back. They were first to arrive at the classroom and went straight in heading immediately to the back row.

Professor Mathos watched them enter, his jet black hair was gelled back and his blue eyes followed them as they took their seats. Actually they were following Elizabeth and Teyla which was all the confirmation John needed that this guy really was a creep. Teyla was about to sit on the end of the row when Jack manoeuvred her into the middle before he took the seat at the end. Elizabeth sat down next to Teyla and John sat down beside her.

John looked up at Mathos who eyed the girls appreciatively before turning his attention to the group of students currently walking through the door. He once again focused on the girls some of whom moved as far back in the room as they could whilst others smiled to him and sat at the front.

"He is good looking, I'll give him that," Teyla stated with a heavy sigh as she watched one of the girls giggle as she introduced herself to her teacher.

"Definitely good looking," Elizabeth replied "But he has creep written all over him."

More students filed through the door and took their seats, all of the girls seemed to be judged by Mathos as they entered. Finally the class was full and Mathos closed the door before beginning their lesson.

"Welcome to Defence, I am Professor Mathos, now we're going to go through the introductory stuff for the first half an hour and then we'll get into the real stuff," he told them before picking up a blue box from behind his desk and beginning to walk around the classroom handing text books out. "You'll each need one of these books, you'll need it for the whole year so don't lose it."

John watched as he practically tossed the text books onto the desk in front of the boys and then made a point of carefully placing them in front of the girls. He finally got to the back row and John's text book hit the desk with a small thud. He took another book out of the box and placed it in front of Elizabeth as he leaned down closer to her. She didn't look up at him but instead muttered a thank you as she took the text book. Mathos moved onto Teyla and repeated the same process, Teyla too kept her eyes on the desk and muttered 'thank you' as he passed. He dropped the final book in front of Jack with another small thud before making his way to the front of the classroom again.

"Now, defensive magic is one of the most important courses you'll do at this school. What you learn in this lesson has the potential of saving your life one day. Those of you wishing to pursue careers in any part of law enforcement or protection should take these classes very seriously and don't miss them if it can be avoided," he instructed.

"Great, I just had to pick a career in law enforcement and protection," Teyla muttered under her breath as Mathos continued to blabber on about the importance of his lesson. He finally got to the point and started talking about what they would be learning over the course of the year.

When he finally got through the introduction stuff John found he actually enjoyed what he was being taught. If it weren't for the fact that his teacher was a jerk he would actually be able to enjoy the lesson.

- - -

"He was leering at half the girls in the class throughout the entire lesson," Elizabeth stated in frustration.

"I can't believe those girls in the front row were actually enjoying the attention, they're all pretty girls, surely they don't need attention from someone like Mathos," Teyla replied sounding equally as exasperated with their Defence teacher.

"I felt like I was being judged, given marks out of ten," Elizabeth exclaimed and John grimaced inwardly. He was fairly sure that was exactly what Mathos had been doing, except maybe for the marks out of ten part. It was like he was using the first lesson to figure out which girls he liked the most and which ones would be most receptive to his attentions.

"When's our next Defence lesson anyway?" Jack questioned as the small cafeteria queue moved forward a little. They had a free period now before lunch so there weren't too many students around and no rush to find a table.

"Friday afternoon," Teyla responded immediately and John wondered not for the first time how she had learnt her schedule so quickly. He still had to fish his out of his beg every period.

"Well at least we get a break from him tomorrow then," Elizabeth said as she reached the counter and selected her meal from the steaming trays and dishes in front of them. They were however blocked from student hands by the glass screen so she informed the cafeteria woman of her choice and a minute later received a plate with the requested meal. She moved away to allow Teyla access and went to sit at their usual table near one of the large windows that ran down three sides of the room.

Teyla arrived right behind her and John and Jack were a few minutes behind her arguing about Jack's indecisiveness. A quick glare from Elizabeth and Teyla shut them both up as they sat down.

"Do we have Spell Casting after lunch?" John questioned as he shuffled a fork full of pasta into his mouth and Elizabeth nodded her head after a moments thought.

"And then we have our first potions lesson," she told him.

"You might want to take a pillow in there with you, I assure you it'll be far more comfortable than the desk," Jack stated and Elizabeth shook her head at him.

"Surely he can't be that bad."

"I have to agree with Jack on this one, his voice is just so lifeless and… boring," Teyla contributed.

"I didn't know you guys were free now," a vaguely familiar voice stated before Elizabeth could respond and they all turned to see Laura and Janet approaching the table with another guy in tow.

"Hey," Jack said as they all made room for the new arrivals to join them, thankfully most of the tables were long enough to accommodate several students.

"This," Laura began, gesturing to the guy stood behind them "Is Marcus Lorne, Marcus this is Jack, John, Elizabeth and Teyla," she introduced and Marcus offered them a smile.

"It's nice to meet you all," he greeted as he pulled up a chair and sat down with the meal he'd been carrying.

"Marcus is in all of our lessons," Janet supplied once they'd all settled down again.

"Did you have Defence this morning?" Laura questioned picking up their conversation from yesterday.

"Just had it," Teyla grumbled.

"Ah, he's a jerk isn't he?" she asked receiving several nods in response before the conversation moved on to slightly more cheerful matters. John, Jack and Marcus ended up having a conversation about sport which became more of an argument when it moved on to home teams. John looked at the girls who started discussing, whatever they were talking about but since it had Teyla looking very enthusiastic he assumed it had something to do with shoes, clothes, shopping or all of the above.

Elizabeth didn't seem to be overly involved with the conversation which was something he'd noticed before. She was kind of half listening and offering the occasional comment. He couldn't help but wonder why she always seemed to be so closed off.

- - -

Spell Casting had been more interesting that their first lesson, they'd actually begun to learn something useful. Jack and Teyla had gone to enjoy the wonderful introductory talk that came with their first General Magic lesson. Elizabeth and John were now sitting in the second row of the potions lab. John had insisted that they didn't sit on the front row because it would be too easy for the teacher to catch him sleeping. He'd wanted to sit at the back but when Elizabeth had informed him she'd go to the front without him he'd compromised and sat on the second row with her.

"Good afternoon class and welcome to your first potions lesson," their teacher began once all the students were seated. "Now I want to get lab partners out of the way so everyone please select your partner."

The classroom filled with noise as the students decided among themselves who would be partnered with who. John turned to Elizabeth and gave her a questioning look "Partners?"

"Sure," Elizabeth replied wondering what she was getting herself into, she knew he didn't have the worlds greatest concentration span and she just hoped he didn't accidentally blow them both up. Once the class were settled again and everyone was sitting with their partners the teacher launched into his speech about potion making. It only took a few sentences before Elizabeth decided that Jack and Teyla were right, the teacher really was boring enough to send people to sleep.

John to his credit was actually trying to stay awake though he was making no effort to write down any of what was being said. It didn't really matter since most of what Trel was saying wasn't all that important anyway. He was merely emphasising – as much as anyone with that kind of a monotone voice could emphasise – how many different ways the students could cause deadly accidents in that very room.

Elizabeth really hoped the man livened up somewhat when he started to actually teach them though something told her that wouldn't be the case. His voice was making her agonisingly aware of just how tired she actually was. It had only been three days and she was already exhausted but she supposed she wasn't use to Magic school life yet. High school had started at 10AM and finished at 3PM, magic school started at 9AM and finished at 4PM. She knew she would probably get used the new hours and it wouldn't seem so tiring to her anymore but in the meantime she was just going to have to stick it out.

She was really grateful that her last lesson today was a free period, she wasn't sure she could handle another lesson after this one. A glance to her left told her John's eye lids were drooping and she nudged him gently to keep him from falling asleep. He took a deep breath and sat up straight in his chair in an effort to keep himself awake.

"Jack and Teyla did not do an adequate job of describing just how boring his voice is," he whispered quietly and she nodded in agreement.

"I'm sure it'll be easier when we actually start learning stuff," she replied quietly.

They both managed to stay awake for the remainder of the lesson and when they were finally dismissed the thirty or so half asleep students suddenly found their energy and all but ran out of the room.

"Thank God that's over with," John commented as they walked out of the classroom and toward the cafeteria.

"Yeah, well I think we have potions again tomorrow," Elizabeth informed him as she unfolded her schedule. "We do."

"You just have to ruin my happiness don't you," John stated and Elizabeth rolled her eyes at him as the two of them descended the stairs and exited through the nearest door. The cafeteria was around the corner from the exit they had used and they arrived to find Janet, Laura and Marcus already sat at one of the tables, apparently they were also free for their final lesson.

"Hello Master Sheppard," Laura greeted teasingly only to receive a glare from John in response. Laura and Marcus were apparently from Cadera and since John was the Governor's son they had both taken to teasing him. John seemed to be less than amused by the whole thing but that didn't stop their new friends from having their fun.

"How'd potion go?" Marcus asked as John and Elizabeth sat down.

"Agonisingly slowly," John replied with a tired sigh. "He's just so… unenthusiastic."

"We did warn you," Jack said as he and Teyla joined them at the table and sat down with what looked like bars of chocolate. Elizabeth rolled her eyes as Jack finished off the one in his hand and pulled another out of her pocket. How had she ended up with these people when she hadn't intended to end up with anyone?

TBC

**Authors Note: I know TPTB named Lorne Evan but I've been calling him Marcus for so long than Evan just doesn't sound right to me, it's a habit that is proving very difficult to break. Anyway I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and reviews are loved.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Fyd818 – **I love Laura and Janet too and I'm really enjoying writing them as teenagers, I have tonnes of scenes planned for them. Mathos creeps me out too and you'll have to wait and see what part he has to play. The potions lesson was my favourite part of the last chapter too. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Dreamer22 – **I didn't know TPTB had named Lorne either until I got told off so I decided to warn everyone. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph7085 – **Thanks for the review and you'll have to wait and see what made Elizabeth the way she is. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Null – **Rodney will be around before long I promise, I'm really looking forward to writing a teenage, magical version of him. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 5

"It's now official," John began "I hate Thursday mornings, Phys Ed first thing on a morning, I wonder whose bright idea that was."

"Well get used to it," Teyla told him as they all sat down on the grass of the games field waiting for the rest of the students and the teachers to come out of the changing room. "Somehow I don't think they'll change the schedule just because you don't like it."

"My, aren't we irritable this morning," Jack commented as he sat up from where he'd been laying on the grass only to be glared at by Teyla.

"I'm entitled to complain," John stated.

"You think this is bad," Elizabeth started "We have potions next."

John groaned and fell back on the grass so that he was laying on it "I'm going to be out cold by lunch time," he informed them all just as Greyler came out of the gym building and blew her whistle. John groaned again as he sat back up and focused his attention on the female coach currently standing in front of him.

"Alright, we're going to be doing some running today so all of you on your feet and start stretching those muscles," she instructed and all of the students started to stand up, some faster than others. Teyla was among the first up and she immediately began to stretch out her leg muscles. She was soon joined by John, Jack and Elizabeth and the group spent ten minutes stretching out the various muscles throughout their bodies.

"Okay," Holman's voice called "There's too many of you for you to do this all at once so we're going to split you into groups, two groups of boys and two groups of girls and you'll take it in turns."

"Can we have all, the boys over here and all the girls over there," Greyler requested and the students immediately did as they were told. Greyler moved over to the group of girls and split them into two whilst Holman did the same with the boys.

"Let's have a group of girls first," Holman shouted and Greyler ushered one of the girls onto the starting line of the track than ran around the entire games field. Neither Elizabeth or Teyla were in that group so that sat to the side and watched as the eight girls got into position. Holman's whistle signalled them to go and though no one had said anything bout this being a race the girls seemed to be treating it as such.

They all set off from the starting line quickly but even from the opposite side of the field everyone could see the majority of the girls slow down when they got half way around the track. Looking at the track Elizabeth guesstimated it was about a quarter of a mile around. They finally made it around the entire track and the eight of them collapsed onto the ground, some of them were clearly out of shape.

A group of boys were up next which included John and Jack. Elizabeth and Teyla watched as they took up their positions and on Holman's whistle sprinted away from the starting line. Again the majority of the boys slowed down when they got about halfway around, though Jack and John maintained their pace until three quarters of the way around. When they collapsed onto the grass next to the girls from the first run they looked exhausted though not as exhausted as some of the others.

Teyla and Elizabeth's group were next and they both stood at the starting line. When they heard Holman's whistle they started running and as with all the other groups they all stayed at the same pace until about half way around. Five of the girls dropped back and only Teyla, Elizabeth and another girl managed to keep up their pace. Elizabeth and the other girl slowed down at about three quarters of the way around the track however Teyla sprinted ahead.

She reached the finish line ahead of Elizabeth and immediately went to drop down next to John and Jack. Elizabeth was about twenty five seconds behind her and she dropped down on the grass feeling more worn out than she was willing to admit. She was definitely out of shape.

They didn't realise that almost the entire lesson had passed in the time it had taken them to get around the track. Holman and Greyler sent them back into the changing rooms where Elizabeth and Teyla located their lockers among the rows of benches and lockers. They grabbed their towels and headed through to the showers, they walked into their separate cubicles and taking care to keep their hair dry they showered and then changed back into their normal clothes.

As they'd expected John and Jack were waiting outside the changing rooms when the girls emerged. The four of them headed into the main building together before splitting off toward their separate lessons. Jack and Teyla went down the hallway for General Magic which was on the bottom floor whilst Elizabeth and John went up to the third floor for Potions.

- - -

Potions had only been marginally more interesting in their second lesson as they learnt about the properties of some of the most common ingredients used in potions. As usual Elizabeth had left the classroom with very detailed notes and John had a new page of doodles that were interrupted by the occasional important piece of information.

After having Phys Ed and Potions in the same morning both John and Elizabeth were immensely relieved to have a free period before lunch. They got themselves an early lunch and were already sat down eating when Jack and Teyla arrived in the cafeteria. They both immediately went to the counter to get their own food and John waved them over.

"Enjoy Potions?" Jack questioned sarcastically as he sat down and John merely glared and threw one of his fries at him. It hit Jack on the chest before tumbling toward his lap, Jack caught it and looked at it for a second before he ate it. Elizabeth smiled in mild amusement as she shook her head at him.

Out of the corner of her eye Elizabeth caught sight of the trouble maker from Spell Casting and his two lackeys. They were very obviously casting a spell of some sort on their food. John saw her staring at something and followed her gaze to the three students.

"Why would someone want to cast a spell on their food?" he questioned incredulously which caught Jack's and Teyla's attention.

"I really hope they get caught," Teyla stated as they all watched. The obvious ring leader of the group, Kolya, stopped whatever spell he was casting and turned to look at them almost as if he had sensed them watching him. He gave them a threatening glare as if daring them to report him.

The food in front of the other guy exploded as whatever spell he'd been casting was obviously unsuccessful. They all leaned away in time to avoid the splattering food, since the cafeteria was practically empty their little experiment went mostly unnoticed.

- - -

Magical Ethics had been pretty much the same as the previous lesson, John made few notes about what was being said but his mind had continuously wondered off. Elizabeth had kept her attention solely on the teacher, he'd only met her a few days ago but he'd learnt very quickly that she took her school work seriously, too seriously if you asked him. He didn't see the point in spending so much of your life learning instead of going out there and experiencing it for yourselves. Half of what they taught wasn't even all that useful, just what the hell was knowing the entire history of the Ethical code going to help him achieve in life? He knew the code and was quite happy to follow it but he really didn't need to know how it was created.

Strangely though out of all the lessons they'd had so far this seemed to be Elizabeth's favourite. Teyla and Jack were both paying attention and seemed somewhat interested in the lesson but they didn't look like they were particularly enjoying it. John thought he heard something important being mentioned but by the time he came back out of his thoughts he'd already missed it. He leaned toward Elizabeth slightly knowing she'd have detailed notes. She turned to look at him giving him an exasperated look before pointing to what he'd just missed and allowing him to copy her notes. He gave her a thankful smile but she merely turned back to her work and scribbled notes down quickly.

Jack elbowed him in the ribs and John managed to suppress a yelp as he turned to glare at Jack. "Pay attention and stop distracting her," he whispered humorously and Teyla looked up from where she was sitting at the other side of Jack and smiled in amusement.

John glared at them both before turning to look at the clock on the wall. There was only a few minutes of the lesson left though he didn't think World of Magic was going to much more interesting than this.

"Alright, I want you all to read to page 12 of your text books before the next lesson," Colbrun instructed before he dismissed them and John sighed, homework in the first week just seemed unreasonable. Everyone quickly picked up their things and exited the classroom.

The group made their way to the World of Magic class room and took their seats on the third row. Professor Niya hurried into the classroom, some of her long red hair had fallen out of her pony tail during her mad dash into the room. Her green eyes searched the class room as she tidied her hair up.

"Okay students," she began as moved to stand near her desk at the front of the classroom. "I know that your first World of Magic lesson wasn't particularly interesting but unfortunately we did have to get through all the introductory stuff. We're going to be starting work on the syllabus today so if you could all open you text books on page three please."

John opened his book and quickly found the requested page, a map of Atlantis covered the page. John studied it, he'd seen plenty of maps before though he'd never really paid much attention to them. He could see the county where the school was located. His own county was marked off to the south, he quickly located Jack's county which was to the east of his. Teyla's was to the north east of the school and Elizabeth's was directly north.

"The different parts of Atlantis are home to various different things, animals, magic sources, the list goes on. The first one we'll be studying is the lunar wolf so everyone please turn the page."

John did as instructed to find a picture of a lunar wolf followed by a lot of text, he picked up his pen realising that he was probably going to have to write something during the lesson but as the teacher continued to talk he found himself doodling again.

"Can anyone tell me where Lunar wolves are found?" Professor Niya asked and Teyla's hand raised immediately. "Miss Emmagan."

"Their found in the counties that have mountainous regions such as Earleth, Zanfros, Dreylan," she answered receiving an approving nod and smile from the teacher.

"Well done," Niya said before continuing "Lunar wolves are found only in the mountains and only during the night. It is believed, though it has yet to be proven, that they have a magical connection with the moon."

John noted down her words next to his doodle of… well actually he wasn't even sure what it was, it just looked like a scribble. He half listened to the rest of the lesson and was pleased when the lesson ended. They were all free for their final period so they didn't rush out of the room with the majority of the other students.

"It's a nice day, why don't we go down to the river?" Teyla suggested hopefully.

"Sure," Jack answered and John nodded his head in agreement, Elizabeth hesitated for a moment before she too agreed to go down to the river. They made their way past the cafeteria and through the tree line. The sun was currently shining directly on the river and bouncing off the water making it shimmer and sparkle as it flowed gently past them.

Elizabeth sat down in the shade of one of the trees and the others quickly followed suit. It seemed some of the other students had a similar idea and before long there were a couple of other groups taking up positions along the river. They were all relatively quiet and involved in their own conversations so they didn't disturb the peace.

John frowned as Elizabeth took her Magical Ethics book out of her bag and began reading it. She must have sensed his eyes on her because she looked up at him. "It has to be done, I might as well get it done now," she defended and John shook his head.

"I wasn't planning on doing it at all," he told her and it was Elizabeth's turned to frown as she looked slightly shocked. "It's a reading assignment, it's not as though it's going to destroy my academic life if I don't do it."

"We forgot to bring snacks," Jack suddenly said turning the attention on him "I'll be right back," he told them standing up and Elizabeth could hardly believe he was going to walk all the way back just for a few chocolate bars.

"Hold on, I'll come with you," Teyla called as she stood up and followed after him.

"What exactly do you plan on doing when exams come around, if you don't do your homework and you don't have any class notes to read from than how do you plan to get through exams?" she questioned him once Jack and Teyla had disappeared into the trees.

"I'll do it from memory, if I don't remember the answer then I don't remember, it's not the end of the world," he told her and she shook her head in disbelief.

"You'll never get anywhere like that, if you really want to get into the Protectorate's Guild then you have to do well in your exams. They won't take on just anybody, you know," she told him and John shrugged though he had to admit, to himself at least that he'd never really considered that. He figured if he got into the Guild then great but if he didn't he was destined to take over as Governor of Cadera and he'd probably have to do that anyway so it was no big deal if he didn't make it into the guild.

If he really thought about it though and if he was honest with himself, he would much rather join the Protectorates Guild. Even though he knew that if he did get in he would probably have to give up his place after a few years so that he could take over the role of Governor from his parents, it would be great if he got to be in the Guild for a few years first.

Elizabeth had gone back to reading her book and an almost uncomfortable silence settled between them. John sat there debating whether or not to try and talk to her and then trying to think of something to actually say. He was saved the trouble when Jack and Teyla came back through the trees and dropped down next to them. Jack handed John a bottle of fruit juice whilst Teyla handed one to Elizabeth. They both dropped a few bars of chocolate and a few other unhealthy snacks onto the grass in the middle of the group.

John grabbed the nearest chocolate bar as he watched Elizabeth reading intently. Despite his recent musings he still couldn't understand why she took school so seriously. It wasn't all about lessons and learning, it was also about socialising and meeting new people. Both these concepts seemed to be almost foreign to her though, he'd noticed from the moment he'd met her that she wasn't a socialising type of person. He hadn't known her for long but he could already tell that she seemed to distance herself from people.

He just couldn't understand why.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

**Steph7085 – **John and Liz challenging each other is one of my favourite parts of their relationship as well. Is this update fast enough, can I have those cookies lol? Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Fyd818 – **I was a loner in school too and I'd never ship Jack and Teyla either. I am really enjoying writing their friendship in this story and Jack and John just seem like the type to be friends. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 6

They were all free for their first period on a Friday along with Laura, Janet and Marcus. Mythology and Sociology had been rather dull that day and Jack was glad when it finally reached lunchtime. The Cafeteria was full when they arrived but Laura, Janet and Marcus were already sitting at their usual table. Jack, Elizabeth, John and Teyla joined the back of the dinner queue and fifteen minutes later were sat down eating their meals.

"Urgh, we've got potions next," Laura stated with a miserable expression.

"Good, I can get some sleep," Marcus replied only to have Laura roll her eyes at him. "What do you four have next?" he asked.

"Free Period," Teyla informed him and Laura glared at her "And then we have defence."

"Oh I'd take potions over defence any day," Laura stated and Jack, John and Teyla pinned her with murderous glares. "If looks could kill…" Laura trailed off allowing their minds to finish the sentence for her.

Jack glanced over to Elizabeth who sat at the end of the table reading the Lantian Journal. "Elizabeth, get your head out of the newspaper," he instructed her and she looked up at him raising an eyebrow. She stared at him a moment and when he didn't look away she sighed and put the paper down.

"Happy now?" she questioned.

"Ecstatically," he replied with his trademark smile and Elizabeth shook her head at him before reaching for the chocolate cake that was currently sitting on the table in front of her. "Damn it, now I want cake," he stated as he stood up to leave.

He reached the counter and picked up one of the few remaining pieces of cake. He was so eager to get back to the table and eat it that when he turned around he almost knocked over the young woman behind him. Holding the plate with the cake in one hand he reached out his arm to steady her.

"Thanks," she replied with a smile of amusement that matched the glimmer in her blue eyes. "I should probably watch where I'm going.

"My fault," he stated "I was so excited over getting my cake I nearly knocked you over," he told her in amusement earning a smile in return.

"Well I guess we should both be more careful," she said as she tucked a lock of relatively short blonde hair behind her ear and turned to leave. Jack watched her go before returning his attention to his cake and making his way back to the table.

"What took you so long?" John questioned.

"Nothing," Jack replied before stabbing the cake with his fork and shovelling part of it into his mouth.

Lunch time came and went far too quickly and Marcus, Laura and Janet headed off to potions. Elizabeth went back to reading her paper and Jack couldn't figure out what she could possibly find so interesting in there. He tended to borrow someone else's copy and skim through it. The hour passed as quickly as lunchtime and the four of them made their way to the defence classroom. They arrived in time to see the previous class exiting and the four of them went in and sat down at the back.

Mathos was sitting at his desk at the front of the class but Jack did not fail to notice how his gaze kept drifting up to Elizabeth and Teyla and then some of the other girls that walked in. It was a shame he was such a jerk really, Jack had only had one lesson with him but he could already tell he was a good teacher. He knew his subject and he taught it well, now if only he could get over himself.

"Alright class, open your text books to page 3," he instructed once everyone was seated. "We're going to start by looking at some of the most common things you may need to defend yourself from. Now, any form of magic has the potential to harm but most often it will be spell that will be used against you. Spells are the best access we have to magic and if used properly are more likely to have the desired results. The only way to defend yourself from magic is to use magic and the best way to defend yourself from a spell is with a spell."

Jack wrote down an abbreviated version of what Mathos was saying and for once he decided it was best not to distract himself with doodles. If he wanted to make it into the Protectorates Guild then this was all stuff he was going to need to know. A quick glance to his left showed Teyla and Elizabeth working hard as usual and even John seemed to be paying attention.

The lesson ended and Jack quickly stuffed his notes into his file before putting his things in his bag.

"Can you believe her?" Elizabeth questioned under her breath as she glanced up at the young girl at the front of the room. She was asking Mathos tonnes of questions though she didn't seem to be paying attention to the answers. She was too busy flicking back her long brown hair and making eyes at the Professor who seemed to be enjoying the display as he answered her questions.

"It's pathetic really," Teyla replied just as quietly as she closed her bag and slung the strap over her shoulder. The four of them exited the room and made their way up to the fourth floor where their History class was located. It would undoubtedly prove to be a boring lesson but anything was better than Defence.

- - -

Their first week of magic school had finally come to an end, in some ways time seemed to have dragged and in other ways it seemed to have flown by. After History the small group had gone to the Cafeteria where they had met up with Laura, Marcus and Janet. They had eaten and talked for a few hours until they had decided to call it a day and head back to their rooms. The girls had all gone off in one direction since they were all in the same dorm building. Marcus had headed off to Demiro Halls and Jack and John were both on their way to Beltry Towers.

"It's been an interesting week hasn't it?" Jack questioned as they walked along the path toward the tower that loomed in front of them.

"Definitely interesting," John replied "But did you expect magic school to be any other way?"

"Fair point," Jack conceded as he opened the door and held it open for John to precede him through. "It's strange to think that we didn't even know each other a week ago."

"I know, we'd never met, we'd never met Elizabeth or Teyla or the others," John mused. It felt like he had known all these people all his life not just six days.

"What do you think of them all?" Jack asked.

"Well Marcus is cool and Laura and Janet are just the greatest," John stated after a moment.

"Aren't they though," Jack replied "Teyla's awesome."

"She is," John agreed "And Elizabeth…" he trailed off thoughtfully.

"Difficult to get a read on her isn't it?" Jack questioned and John nodded his head as he tried to figure the young brunette out.

"She's so guarded and she seems reluctant to get involved with any of us, she always distances herself…" John commented and trailed off again when his own thoughts confused him.

"Well maybe she'll relax a bit once she gets settled in and gets to know us," Jack stated with a shrug as they reached the sixth floor of the tower. Jack stopped outside his room and said bye to John as he opened his door. John shouted 'bye' over his shoulder as he continued down the corridor to his own room. Finally reaching room 614 he opened the door and went inside.

He dropped his bag by the wardrobe and collapsed onto the large bed with a sigh. He couldn't believe how tired he was and it wasn't even 8pm yet. This was one of the reasons he didn't like to work so hard in school, it left no energy to do anything else. He supposed he'd get used to it though; the hours weren't much different from high school hours, when he'd turned up for that. With another heavy sigh he sat back up and made his way over to the desk in the corner of the room. His parents wanted weekly updates on what was going on at school since they were no longer nearby to look over his shoulder. Whilst he had no intention of keeping up with it he might as well start out well and besides it couldn't hurt to let them know how his first week had been.

- - -

"Laura and Janet are great," Teyla stated as she and Elizabeth discussed their new circle of friends. After only a week in magic school their little group had already grown, she wasn't even sure how they had all ended up being friends; they all just seemed to click together.

"They're definitely an interesting pair," Elizabeth agreed as she sat down on her bed. Teyla looked up from the letter she was writing and smiled to herself.

"The boys are great too, they're all funny and definitely good looking though I have to say none of them are really my type," Teyla commented her smile growing.

"So what is your type?" Elizabeth asked.

"I don't know but they're not it," Teyla replied as she folded up the letter to her father and placed it in the envelope. She left it on the desk to be posted in the morning when she had the energy to do it. She wondered for a moment why Elizabeth wasn't writing to her own father about her first week in school but decided it was probably best not to ask.

"We should probably get some sleep," Elizabeth stated "Especially if you're planning on dragging me shopping again tomorrow."

"There's nothing wrong with a little shopping now and again," Teyla replied with a smile.

"I agree with you but there's nothing little about the way you shop," Elizabeth told her with a smile. The comment left Teyla in shock for a moment, she'd only known her room mate for a week but she'd never heard Elizabeth tease any of them before. She would have commented if not for the fact that Elizabeth had already grabbed her things and gone into the bathroom.

She walked over to her own draws and opened the middle one, she grabbed the first pair of pyjamas she could find and tossed them onto her bed before grabbing a few other things from the draws and then closing them again. Elizabeth came out of the bathroom a few minutes later having changed into her night clothes and running a brush through her hair. She smiled to Teyla as she put the brush down on the dresser and climbed into her bed making herself comfortable beneath the bed sheets.

Teyla grabbed her things and headed through to the bathroom; she changed into her baby blue pyjamas and ran through her usual night time routine. Removing the small amount of make up she wore during the day, washing her face and brushing her teeth. She pulled her hair out of the band that had been holding it in place and quickly ran her brush through it before tidying up the mess she'd made and heading back into the bedroom. Elizabeth was obviously already asleep when she entered the room so she was careful not to wake her. The curtains were still open so the light from the moon was still shining through the window and illuminating the room enough that she didn't need to turn any lights on.

After she'd finished putting her things into their proper places she closed the curtains and crawled into bed. Once she was comfortable she closed her eyes and fell easily to sleep.

- - -

John stood with Jack outside the cafeteria as they waited for Elizabeth and Teyla to arrive. It was their first weekend at Pegasus and they had all planned to go into town, the girls would most likely go shopping and Jack and John would find something else to occupy their time.

"What could possibly be taking them this long?" John questioned as he glanced at his watch and noticed the girls were fifteen minutes late.

"Who knows," Jack replied wearily and John was about to open his mouth to offer further comment when an all too familiar feminine squeal cut him off. He turned his head almost afraid of what he was going to see and grimacing inwardly when he realised it was exactly what he'd been expecting.

The brunette heading for him was most definitely not either of the ones he wanted to see. She bounded his way with a look of absolute glee on her deceptively angelic features. Her long brown hair waved around behind her in time to her movements and her brown eyes locked onto his.

"Oh John, I was wondering when I'd finally find you," she stated as she approached and before John could even react she had thrown her arms around his neck. John glanced at Jack whose face was a mixture of confusion and amusement. It took him far longer than he would have liked to recover his senses and gently push the young woman off him.

"Chaya," he greeted and even he could here the irritation and annoyance in his voice. Chaya however seemed completely oblivious to his… dislike at her having found him when he'd been avoiding running into her since he had arrived.

"Can you believe we've been here a week and we haven't run into each other yet?" she questioned and John faked a small smile.

"Yeah, imagine that," he replied.

"I've been looking all over for you," Chaya continued and then seemed to notice Jack's presence for the first time. "Who's you're friend?"

"Chaya this is Jack O'Neill, Jack this is Chaya Sar," John introduced and Jack held out his hand to shake hers. She accepted it with the sweet smile John remembered all too well and wished he didn't.

"His girlfriend," Chaya added to her own introduction and John looked at her in disbelief.

"Chaya, we broke up a year ago," he stated unable to keep some of his anger out of his voice.

"Oh John, I know we had a bit of a rough patch but I do believe our relationship is stronger than that," she told him in her usual confident, sweet and innocent tone.

"We don't have a relationship, I broke up with you for a reason and I fully intend to stick by that. Now if you don't mind, we have plans," John informed her and Chaya looked momentarily taken aback by his rejection of her but she seemed to recover quickly.

"Plans?" she questioned with the barest hint of sarcasm. "You're just standing her staring at the floor."

"We're waiting for our friends," he stated.

"Speaking of which," Jack said as he looked over Chaya's shoulder "You two took your time."

"Sorry, Teyla couldn't decide which top she wanted to wear," Elizabeth explained as she and Teyla came to a stop in front of the group. She seemed to notice the glare Chaya was pinning her and Teyla with as she turned to look at the young woman.

"Elizabeth, Teyla this is Chaya, I used to go to school with her, she was just leaving," he introduced quickly "Shall we get going?"

"Sure," Elizabeth replied sounding slightly confused. She fell in step beside John as they headed toward the school gate. Jack and Teyla hurried along behind them and John didn't need to look back at Chaya to know she was glaring intently at their retreating forms.

Once they were out of school grounds Elizabeth and Teyla walked off slightly ahead of the two boys and Jack caught up with John. "So, do you wanna explain what that was?"

"That was Chaya," John stated as if it needed no further explaining though Jack had unfortunately not been privy to that part of his life so further explanation was necessary. "She's the daughter of the Governor of Porculus, her parents sent her to high school in Cadera because at the time their schools weren't as good as ours. We dated for about two years until I broke it off with her a year ago."

"Is there a reason you broke it off with her?" Jack questioned.

"She's a spoilt, manipulating, nasty, rich girl, I just wish it hadn't taken me two years to figure that out," John stated as he thought back to how long it had taken him to notice what his girlfriend was really like behind the mask of sweetness she'd perfected. Even when he had figured it out he hadn't left her because his parents adored her and were thrilled that he was dating her.

"Come on you two, keep up," they heard Teyla shout and they both noticed for the first time that the girls were way ahead of them.

- - -

John dropped the five bags he was carrying on the floor next to the six that had previously been in Jack's hands. He watched from near the door as Teyla dragged Elizabeth through the rows of clothes. Elizabeth seemed to be enjoying herself to some extent but Teyla got excited every time she saw a sign that read 'sale'.

Somehow both John and Jack had been roped into joining the girls on their shopping spree... never again.

"God, what is in these things?" Jack asked as he stretched out his aching arms.

John didn't answer him as he watched Elizabeth laughing at something Teyla had said. This was the most he had seen her get involved in what the group was doing, she wasn't even buying anything but she seemed content to humour Teyla by trying on the occasional outfit. Teyla already had an arm full of clothing and was now pushing stuff into Elizabeth arms without giving her room mate the chance to object.

She grabbed Elizabeth free had and pulled her toward the changing rooms at the back. John, having been through this in four other stores already, knew this was going to take a while so he sat himself down on the floor next to the shopping bags he had already placed there. Jack sat down next to him making sure he wasn't in the way of the door.

"At least they're enjoying themselves, even Elizabeth," he stated.

"You noticed that too huh?" John questioned rhetorically and Jack shrugged in response.

It was half an hour later when Teyla and Elizabeth emerged from the changing room. Teyla paid for several items of clothing as the two guys stood up and picked up the shopping bags.

"You two enjoying yourselves?" Teyla asked humorously as she and Elizabeth joined them.

"Yeah," John replied sarcastically which only made Teyla and Elizabeth smile in response.

"Well how about we go and get dinner?" Teyla asked them "Our treat."

Both men visibly brightened up at the prospect of food and a break from the constant shopping. Neither had actually realised it had passed lunch time and they hadn't eaten yet.

"Let's find somewhere to eat then," Elizabeth said when she saw the two men's reaction and took it as agreement.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

**Fyd818 – **I'm glad you liked Chaya's entrance and I never liked her either. You'll have to wait and see whether it was Sam that Jack ran into. I'm glad my update made your day lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph7085 –** Why would you think Chaya was trouble lol? Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Louise – **Ronon will be along soon I promise. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Dreamer22 – **Thanks for the review, you'll find out soon if it was Sam that Jack bumped into. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 7

The first weekend at Pegasus Magic School was over, it hadn't been anything special but they'd definitely needed the break from lessons. John had yet to run into Chaya again since she'd found him on Saturday for which he was unbelievably grateful. He'd been spared the exasperation of avoiding her just after he'd broken up with her since she'd been transferred to a school in her own county a month later. That first month had been hell though, she'd spent two weeks scowling at him and making him out to be the most evil man in the world. Then the second two weeks had been full of her subtle and manipulative ways of trying to get him back. He really hoped she'd got the message and would just leave him alone this time... yeah right.

He was currently sitting in Spell Casting, listening to the teacher and making notes. For some reason what Elizabeth had said to him down by the river last week had actually stuck in his head and he found himself actually paying attention in his lessons. It wasn't like he had been completely ignoring the teachers before, he was just half listening. He couldn't help doing the occasional doodle though when his mind inevitably began to wonder off in other directions.

"Can anyone tell me what the foundation of spells is?" Professor Penrose asked the class; only three students in the entire room raised their hands including Elizabeth.

"Miss Weir," the teacher said giving a small nod in Elizabeth's direction.

"The foundation of spells is the language of the ancients, most of the words have been changed or altered now but the route of it is in the ancient language," she stated in a text book answer.

He wrote her answer down word for word figuring it was probably an important piece of information and then went back to his doodle of a Jungle Monkey. It looked nothing like a Jungle Monkey but what did he care, most of his doodles came out more like scribbles anyway.

"He was broke from his thoughts by an elbow in his side and a male voice that said "Mr Sheppard?" It took him only a second to realise the elbow had been Elizabeth's and he looked up as he tried to find the source of the voice. It was then he noticed with a barely concealed humiliation that the voice belonged to his teacher and it was apparent that he had been trying to get his attention for some time now.

"Yes sir?" John questioned quietly.

"Would you care to answer the question?" Penrose asked and John found himself becoming increasingly uncomfortable as he realised he didn't even know what the question was and he probably wouldn't know the answer either.

"Sameria," Elizabeth whispered beside him and John echoed her words.

"That's correct, Sameria was the first of the ancients to tap into magic through a spell and Miss Weir, perhaps you can let Mr Sheppard succeed or fail on his own," the teacher stated in a chastising tone. Elizabeth ducked her head down to hide the slight blush that was creeping up her face.

"Thanks," John whispered quietly.

"Pay attention," she instructed him and he turned back to his pad of paper without another word. He quickly wrote down the answer and decided that, at least for the rest of this lesson; he would try and focus solely on the teacher.

"Sameria was the first person to ever tap into magic for a specific purpose; people had always used magic in forms such as charms, symbols or animals. These forms generally do not have a specific result, they may bring good fortune or offer protection from dark magic but their purpose is far more generalised."

John wrote down the teachers words in his own, shorter version and had to resist the urge to return to his doodle. Elizabeth had bailed him out, the least he could do was focus for the remainder of the lesson. He looked up at the clock realising there was only five minutes left and sighed in relief. His next period was a free so he wouldn't have to worry about anything for an hour.

"Alright, class dismissed," Penrose finally said after what seemed like an eternity. John practically jumped out of his chair and picked up his bag from the floor. After carelessly tossing his paper and pencil case into the bag he zipped it up and slung it over his shoulder. The others took a minute longer than he did but he was glad to finally be on his way out of the class room. Sitting still for prolonged periods of time had never been his strong suit.

"Urgh, we've got potions now," Teyla stated lifelessly.

"Now don't go getting me all excited," Jack replied with well practiced sarcasm in his voice.

"We'll see you in Phys Ed," John called as he and Elizabeth headed in the opposite direction toward the Cafeteria.

- - -

Their second week at Magic School was already proving to be completely different form their first and it was only the end of the first day. The teachers seemed to have decided that one week was sufficient for the student's to get settled in, they were diving into the work now and Jack already had two homework assignments. Granted they weren't particularly difficult assignments, one of them was just reading a few pages of his text book and the other was research. The latter was the reason he was now sitting in the library with several large books on the desk in front of him.

Professor Colbrun had taken it upon himself to acquaint his students with the school library. They had to find out everything they could about Oliver Trion and his reign of terror and mischief across Atlantis. Magical Ethics was far from his most hated lesson but it wasn't his favourite either, he hardly wanted to spend his afternoon reading books about it.

The library itself was huge; there were five tiers all full of row after row of books. The bottom floor was mostly desks for the students to work at with several rows of shelves down two sides of the room. Looking up Jack could see the walkways of the upper tiers that led off into the shelves. All together there must be over a million different books in that one building.

"All this space for books," John grumbled next to him, apparently he wasn't a fan of libraries either.

A loud thud next to him made both Jack and John jump and they both looked up to see Teyla taking her seat next to Jack. The large book in front of her had clearly been the source of the noise. Elizabeth sat down beside John and placed her book on the table far more quietly.

"Where did you two disappear to?" Jack questioned, he and John had grabbed the first few books they'd seen that looked like they might be useful.

"Top floor," Teyla stated.

"Why the hell did you go all the way up there?" John asked.

"That's where most of the Magical Ethics books are," Elizabeth replied and John looked up at the amount of stairs they'd had to climb up and then back down again with their heavy looking books.

"Well, I suppose that's your exercise for the week," he stated and Teyla shook her head.

"We have to put them back yet," she informed them and Jack stared at them incredulously.

"Can't you just leave it on one of the shelves down here?" he asked.

"No, library rules say if you're not taking the book out then you have to put it back besides it's not fair on other students who might need to use it," Teyla replied before opening her book and searching through it for the information she was looking for. Elizabeth did the same and a few moments later the four of them were discussing their assignment and making as many notes as they could from the books they had.

"Okay..." Elizabeth began as she seemed to have picked out the most useful, not to mention largest book. "Oliver Trion, born 1583 in the county of Kiarnal. His mother died during childbirth leaving only Oliver, his two sisters and their father. During childhood he was known as a problem child, there are several reports of him acting out in order to get attention. It was during his years at Magic School that his acts of mischief became more dangerous. Now with the added ability of magic he was able to cause more problems for the school and its students. Nevertheless he graduated in1606 and then disappeared from records for many years. It is believed that he returned to his home to live off his father."

"Well that's boring, learning how to use magic and then going to home to mooch off his father," John stated as Elizabeth stopped to make notes on what she'd read so far. He and the others did the same before Teyla took over reading.

"Trion surfaced again in 1612 when disrupted a meeting of the Lantian Court in Alteran City. He used several spells which, while completely harmless, made it impossible for the Court to continue with their meeting. He was able to avoid being arrested and left the city to begin his reign of mischief across Atlantis."

"Due to the fact that there were no laws governing the use of magic except when it was used for criminal acts no one was ever able to stop Trion. His magic caused no harm to anyone and in no way broke any law so there were no grounds on which to arrest him. The Lantian Court quickly passed a set of laws which later came to be known as the Ethical Code. These laws govern the ethical use of magic and outlawed what Trion was doing. Trion continued his activities despite the new laws and was finally arrested and sentenced to twenty five years in prison," Elizabeth continued and then paused once again to make notes.

A couple of hours later they deemed the work complete and the boys valiantly volunteered to put the books back on the top floor whilst the girls did the ones from the lower tiers. Once they were done and they'd all packed their things away they decided to head to the cafeteria before it closed for the day since they had yet to have dinner.

- - -

"Of all the ways it could have gone wrong that was most definitely not the worst," Jack defended himself as Teyla recounted the tale of their potions lesson to John and Elizabeth. Teyla had spent the majority of second period making fun of him and now that their friends were free she seemed to feel the need to include them. He was sure she'd tell Marcus, Laura and Janet the whole story when they arrived for lunch as well.

"It exploded," Teyla stated pointedly "The entire class was covered in green goo, the potion wasn't even suppose to turn into green goo."

"At least nobody got hurt... well apart from that kid in the back who had some kind of reaction to it," Jack replied suppressing a shudder at the memory of the red splodges that had started to emerge on the boy's body as he wiped the goo off, it hadn't been long before they had apparently started to burn him.

"I can't believe I'm stuck with you as a partner, that was only our first potion and you already messed it up. I dread to think what you might do to me over the rest of the year," Teyla informed him and Jack glanced at John and Elizabeth who had been silent throughout the story. They were both staring at the pair with obvious amusement; even Elizabeth seemed to find it funny.

"We're not even half way through the second week and you're already trying to blow up the school," John stated humorously as he took a bite of his sandwich.

"So Potions isn't my strong suit," Jack continued to try and defend himself.

"It's only the second week of school, you may get better at it with experience," Elizabeth stated, finally someone was on his side.

"Thank you," he replied as he returned his attention to his lunch.

"Hey Marcus, Laura, Janet, guess what," he heard Teyla shout and looked up to find the final three members of their group arriving for lunch. He sighed as he realised he was going to have to relive the whole story again.

"What?" Marcus questioned as he dropped his bag beside the table and sat down next to Teyla.

"Jack blew up potions lab four," she informed him and Jack snapped his head up and glared at her.

"I did not blow it up... I just caused a small explosion inside it," he told her and she only smiled in response to the glare he threw her way.

"How did you manage that?" Janet questioned as she too took her place next to Jack.

"He added too much Pias Root to the potion we were making and..." Jack tuned Teyla out as she continued to once again retell the story of their potions lesson. She was getting entirely far too much enjoyment out of this, he just couldn't wait until she did something wrong... revenge is always sweet.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

**Steph7085 – **Isn't Jack always hilarious lol. Thanks for the review, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one, sorry about the wait.

**Fyd818 – **I'm glad you liked the history I gave for Trion; I think I spent half an hour coming up with all that lol. I'm glad my school library was only small too, though I'd love to be surrounded by all those books, I love reading. Jack blowing up the potions lab I think was my fave part of this story so far and I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter, sorry about the wait.

- - -

Chapter 8

"Class Dismissed," the teacher finally stated and Jack and John eagerly threw their belongings into their bags and the waited impatiently for Elizabeth and Teyla to do the same. They left the History classroom glad to see the end of their second week. They all had a mountain of homework to do but none of it was particularly difficult, mostly reading and research assignments.

"We'll meet you in the cafeteria," Elizabeth stated when she saw their impatience and the two boys left the room.

"How did we end up hanging around with them?" Teyla asked as she threw the strap of her bag over her shoulder.

"They tried to kill us with a football," Elizabeth reminded her and Teyla laughed slightly at the memory. "And you decided to introduce us and now we can't get rid of them."

They made their way out of the classroom and out of the main building toward Raildon Halls. It took ten minutes to reach their dorm where their conversation abruptly halted when they found two pieces of paper pinned to their door. Teyla grabbed the one with her name on it and Elizabeth took the other.

_Teyla Emmagan_

_You have been approached_

_Atala_

"Yes," Teyla exclaimed rather loudly and Elizabeth was slightly caught up in her enthusiasm. They'd both been approached by the Atala guild which meant they were being considered for membership. The Senior Guild members would be watching them to see if they were good enough for the guild and if they passed their scrutiny they would receive a confirmation notice.

"I wonder if John got one," Elizabeth mused, trying to hide the fact that she was rather excited by this as well. "I know he wanted to get in to Atala."

"So did Jack," Teyla added as she opened the door to their bedroom and dumped her bag on her bed. She quickly took her books out of her bag and placed them on the shelf along with Elizabeth before she grabbed her smaller bag, dropped her purse into it and stated that she was ready.

"Let's go then," Elizabeth replied and headed for the door only for Teyla to stop her.

"No, bring your notice," she said excitedly and Elizabeth rolled her eyes and went back to pick up the piece of paper from her bed. Teyla reread hers as they made their way to the cafeteria; she was very obviously excited by the whole thing.

"Hey, what took you guys?" Jack asked as they sat down at the table with him, John and Marcus.

"This," Teyla said excitably as she handed over the notice and Jack's eyes widened as John reached for the paper in Elizabeth's hand. His reaction was similar to Jack's and Teyla just beamed happily at them.

"You've been approached?" John questioned.

"Yeah," Teyla replied obviously having trouble keeping herself in her seat.

"I can't believe you've both been approached by Atala, there was no notice on my door," Jack stated bitterly.

"Mine either," John added.

"Or mine," Marcus finished and Teyla just continued to grin excitedly.

"Did we miss something?" Janet asked as she and Laura arrived to see the excited look on Teyla's face the unusually happy look on Elizabeth's and the distraught looks on the boy's faces.

"They got approached," Jack informed them as he handed Teyla the notice back.

"Really, so did we," Laura informed them and all three boys snapped their heads round in her direction, clearly they were not happy.

"What?" Jack finally managed to say.

"Yeah, the notices were on our door when we got back to our room," Janet told them as she pulled the small piece of paper out of her bag and showed them. Jack, John and Marcus just looked completely dejected and Elizabeth almost felt sorry for them.

"You might still get in," she said sympathetically and John looked at her incredulously.

"Atala hardly accepts anybody and right there," he said gesturing to the four girls "That's four places gone already."

"They accept what?" Janet began also feeling bad for the boys "About twenty students from each year, we're only four and we're not even in yet."

"Oh great that leaves a whole sixteen places," Marcus replied sarcastically.

"Life is so unfair," Jack's muffled voice came from where he had buried his head in his arms on the table.

"Perhaps we should just get something to eat," Teyla suggested as she and the other girls stood up to head toward the cafeteria queue. It was already fairly long and they didn't want to end up any further back than they already were.

"I'm not hungry," Jack's muffled voice came once again and Elizabeth almost had to laugh at the slightly dramatic display he was giving them. When none of the boys made any move to follow them the girls left without them joining the back of the queue. It took them almost ten minutes to reach the front as they chatted about getting into the Guild.

"I do feel kinda bad for them," Laura stated with a quick glance back at their table. "They really had their hearts set on getting into Atala."

"Not eating won't help," Teyla commented as she reached the front of the queue and selected her own meal. "Oh and can I have three burgers and fries as well please," she added as an afterthought and the cafeteria lady gave her a funny look before getting the requested items. Elizabeth was next and she ordered her own meal and then picked up a piece of cake from the side as Laura relieved Teyla of some of the plates she was trying to carry.

"Cake always cheers Jack up," Elizabeth stated as she tried to put another two plates of Jack's most loved food onto her tray. Janet, who had just got her meal, took one of the plates from her as she picked up three extra drinks. The four girls made their way back to their table slowly, careful not to drop any of the extra stuff they were carrying. They finally made it back and put their trays down on the table, dishing out the boy's food before getting their own.

"You brought me cake," Jack said lovingly as Elizabeth put one of the deserts in front of him and another in front of John. Jack reached out to eat it only for Teyla to bat his hand away.

"Ah ah, dinner first," she told him as pushed his food in front of him and then handed another plate to John. Janet couldn't reach all the way across with John's drink so Elizabeth, who was sitting opposite him, took the drink from her and placed it in front of him.

"You girls are the best," Jack stated and John and Marcus seemed to agree whole heartedly. The girls just shrugged it off before turning their attention to their own meals.

- - -

John woke up and glanced at his alarm clock at the side of his bed, it was way to early on a Saturday morning to be waking up. 10am what was he thinking, he sighed and closed his eyes to go back to sleep but found that the light that was streaming in through his curtains kept him awake. He groaned and got out of bed, heading immediately for the bathroom where he went through his usual morning ritual.

He emerged from the bathroom, showered and dressed in time for the loud knocking on the door. He walked over and opened it to find Jack standing there with a huge grin on his face. He strolled in to John's room uninvited and John merely closed the door behind him.

"Found this on your door," he stated holding out the small piece of paper and John took it from him reading the few words that were written on it.

_John Sheppard_

_You have been approached_

_Atala_

John's face broke into a grin to match the one on Jack's face as he looked from the note to his friend. "You got one as well?"

"On my door when I woke up," Jack stated holding up his own notice for John's inspection.

"I really hope Marcus got one too," John stated after a moment as the thought of his friend's reaction came into his mind.

"Me too," Jack replied and then after a moment "Come on, we've probably already missed the others at breakfast."

John quickly grabbed his jacket and followed Jack out of the room. The others were all in the cafeteria finishing off their breakfasts when John and Jack sat down with theirs. John noticed the small piece of paper sticking out of Marcus's jacket and knew immediately what it was.

"You got one too!" John exclaimed.

"What, oh yeah," Marcus replied when he followed John's gaze.

"So I guess we're all under consideration," Jack stated happily.

"Looks like it," Marcus stated "Apparently they just hadn't gotten around to the boys dorms yesterday."

"So all that drama was for nothing," Janet pointed out.

- - -

For the following few days the school had been abuzz with the news of guilds approaching people. Teyla had to feel kind of bad for those who didn't get approached by anyone. There were over three hundred students in every year; it wasn't unusual for many of them to not belong to any guild. Teyla herself got four approaches but the only one she was really bothered about was Atala. It was nice to know that if she didn't get in she would have fall back options but her heart was really set on it. Elizabeth had also had four approaches, Jack and John both had five, Marcus, Laura and Janet all had three so they all had fall back options but like her they all wanted to get into Atala.

She'd worked harder than ever in lessons since, as well as reputation, that was what the senior guild members based their decisions on. They'd speak to teachers and occasionally come up with excuses to enter the lessons and see the students working for themselves. Apparently teachers hated this part of the year; they didn't mind being asked about students but the constant interruptions in their lessons made things difficult. Senior students were constantly walking in to ask the teachers a question or hand in an assignment an hour late. Those under consideration had no idea which interruptions were genuine and which were information gathering. They also couldn't be entirely sure which guild members were from which guild, Teyla only knew of two that were definitely Atala seniors.

The week progressed and the excitement of approaches died down slightly, that was until confirmation notices began appearing on people's doors. Several of the guilds were already accepting their new members but the two most prominent, Atala and Corlith, were always the last. Both guilds only gave out around twenty confirmation notices each year so it stood to reason they took longer to decide.

Teyla already had confirmation notices from Tralis and Maive so she knew she was going to get into a guild, she was just hoping for one more Confirmation. Elizabeth had also received Confirmation from Tralis and Maive along with another for Grenelith. John and the others all had confirmations from various different guilds as well; they were all just waiting to hear that Atala had sent their own out.

The week flew by and before they knew it the weekend had arrived once again. Teyla woke up to find Elizabeth already dressed and sitting on her bed reading. She groaned as she forced herself out of bed and into the bathroom, muttering an unenthusiastic response to Elizabeth's 'Morning.'

When she emerged from the bathroom she couldn't see Elizabeth, until the brunette walked around the corner from where the door was two pieces of paper in hand. With a somewhat shell shocked expression she handed Teyla one of them without looking up from the other.

_Teyla Emmagan_

_We are pleased to offer you a place in Atala. We will be meeting Sunday at 4pm in History Room 5. If you wish to accept this invitation, please show up for the meeting on time. If you are unable to attend but wish to join the guild, please leave a message on the Atala Guild notice board in the Cafeteria._

_Hope to see you at the meeting_

_Atala_

Teyla read the note again wanting to be absolutely sure of what it said before she allowed herself to get over excited. "We got in!" She exclaimed almost jumping up and down as hugged Elizabeth. Elizabeth jumped slightly at her room mate's very sudden and enthusiastic response but did nothing to calm her down.

There was a knock at the door and Elizabeth left her roommate still bouncing up and down chanting 'I got in' very loudly. She opened the door to reveal Jack and John standing there with smiles in their faces. They both looked rather amused by the noise coming from behind her.

"I gather you both got one of these this morning," Jack stated holding up one of the notes.

"I know how you can figure out Teyla got one," she said throwing a glance over her shoulder "But how do you know I got one?"

"Because Teyla wouldn't be that... enthusiastic, if you hadn't" Jack stated and Elizabeth shook her head and stepped back to allow them into the room.

"Did you guys get in," Teyla stated abruptly ending her celebration and awaiting their replies.

"We did," John informed her and Teyla have a squeal that took them all by surprise as she hugged John and then Jack.

"I've never seen her this..." John tailed off looking for the right words as Teyla started jumping up and down again.

"Bouncy?" Jack offered as he too watched their friend's celebration.

"Bouncy is a good word," John replied.

"I'm gonna go see if Janet and Laura got in," Elizabeth stated as she turned to leave the room. John quickly followed after her and they heard Jack behind them trying to get Teyla to stay still.

"What has she eaten this morning?" John asked once they were in the silence of the hallway.

"Nothing," Elizabeth informed him with a smile. Teyla really must have had her heart set on getting into Atala with a response like that. Laura and Janet's room was on the floor below hers so Elizabeth and John descended the stairs in time to see Marcus coming up them.

"Did you two happen to find a note on your door this morning?" Marcus questioned carefully and when John nodded Marcus smiled and patted him on the back. "Then we're in, I was just off to see if Laura and Janet got in."

"So were we," John informed him and the three of them made their way down the corridor to Laura's and Janet's door. Marcus knocked quietly hoping they weren't asleep but when Janet opened the door with a huge grin on her face, they had their answer. She stepped back to allow them into the room where Janet was currently tying her hair back.

"Did you both get in?" Elizabeth asked receiving two excited nods in response.

"Are we all in?" Laura questioned.

"Yeah, Teyla's currently bouncing around our room while Jack tries to calm her down," Elizabeth replied in amusement.

"I can't wait to see who else is in," Janet informed them.

"We'll know tomorrow," John stated.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

**Steph7085 – **I can just picture you running around screaming lol. Sorry it took so long to get round to updating this, hope it was worth the wait. Thanks for the review.

**Fyd818 – **I thought I was rather like the girls to feed the boys whilst they were wallowing in their misery lol. Glad you liked that scene. Writing Teyla in the last chapter was a lot f fun, I'm really enjoying writing the teenage version of her. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 9

They were all excited as they approached History Room 5; they could already hear voices inside and knew they were not the first to arrive. However they also knew they weren't the last since they were actually several minutes early. They walked into the room and Janet and Laura immediately sat themselves on one of the tables as the rest followed suit. There were at least a dozen other people in the room and more were still pouring into the room.

It looked like the majority of those already there were the Atala Seniors and Jack recognised many of them as the people coming in and out of his classes. Ten minutes later the doors to the room were closed.

"Alright everyone," one of the seniors began "Welcome to Atala. I'm Andrew and I'm the Guild leader for this year," he informed them and then one by one the ten other seniors in the room introduced themselves before Andrew gestured for the newbie's to do the same.

It was then that Jack spotted the blonde girl he'd almost run into in the cafeteria in his haste to get cake. She was the first of the freshman to introduce themselves. "I'm Sam Carter," she informed them before turning to look at the guy sitting beside her.

"Rodney McKay," he stated.

"Radek Zelenka," the next person introduced himself.

There was a brief pause as a rather tall guy with dreadlocks framing his face took his time to continue the introductions. "Ronon Dex."

"Teal'c Murray," the next man stated and then it was Jack's turn, he introduced himself followed by John, Teyla and Elizabeth. Laura, Janet and Marcus informed the group of their names before a young woman beside Marcus continued.

"Kate Heightmeyer."

"Daniel Jackson."

"Carson Beckett."

"Cameron Mitchell."

"Vala Malduran."

With the introductions of everyone in the room complete Andrew began to talk about the rules of being in Atala. He had to give a brief history of the guild and then finally got to talking about the inter-guild competition. It took place toward the end of every school year and involved a number of different academic areas. There was a potions segment, Jack hoped he didn't end up doing that, Spell Casting, Defensive Magic ect... and there were also sports segments as well. Those ones Jack was looking forward to.

"You've all been selected because so far this year, out of all the students we've seen you have showed the greatest potential in one or more areas," Andrew informed them. "Now we meet regularly once a month, always on the 10th, in the great hall. If we have to call a meeting outside of this there will be a notice on the Atala notice board. Any other news will be placed on that board as well so keep an eye on it and you can also use it if you want to get a message to us. We check the board daily so we'll get any notices you want to pass to us. Does anyone have any questions?"

"When do we meet the rest of the guild members?" one of the freshmen asked, Cameron, if Jack remembered correctly.

"You'll meet the others at the first monthly meeting which is just over a week from now."

"What do we do at these monthly meetings?" Sam asked.

"It's a chance for us learn to work together as a team for the inter-guild competition, you'll learn to develop your magical skills in your area of expertise or any other area you wish to do so. It's also a chance for you to socialise with other group members and the senior students are always more than happy to help the juniors study for exams if they require it, just remember that we have exams at the same time as you so be patient."

"Alright, that's the end of the meeting but I suggest you all take this opportunity to get to know your fellow guild members," another one of the seniors said as he jumped down from the table he'd been sitting on. "Myself and some of the other seniors will be sticking around so if you have any questions please feel free to ask."

"Let's go mingle," Teyla said as she too jumped down from the table and walked off in the direction of the tall, long black haired girl who was sitting on the end, dragging Elizabeth with her. Janet and Laura had gone to talk to the big guy with dreadlocks and the other rather big guy next to him. Marcus was talking to the young woman who had been sitting next to him and the guy on the other side of her. John was now chatting to that 'Carson' guy and that left Jack to walk over to the young blonde.

"Hey there," Sam greeted. "Imagine seeing you in here."

"It's a small world," he replied with a smile.

"Or in this case a small school," she told him and he nodded his head as he turned to look at the two men bickering beside her.

"Rodney, Radek, shut up and have some manners," she chastised them and he had to repress a smirk as both men immediately silenced. He had a feeling she was going to turn out to be similar to Janet and Laura though he doubted anyone would ever be quite like those two.

"My apologies," Radek said as he held out a hand to Jack "Radek Zelenka."

"Jack O'Neill," he replied as he accepted the hand. Rodney did the same, introducing himself and shaking Jack's hand, albeit reluctantly.

"I'm Sam," she said stretching out her hand and rolling her eyes as Rodney and Radek went back to bickering about something that sounded suspiciously Potions related. "And I am unfortunate enough to be in every class with the two of them."

"You have my sympathies," he told her.

"Hey Sam," someone shouted from behind him and Sam looked over his shoulder and smiled at whoever was shouting for her.

"One second Daniel," she called and turned back to Jack. "Come on." Jack followed her across the room to where Marcus was talking to another blonde girl and a guy with glasses he assumed was Daniel. "Daniel this is Jack, Jack this is Daniel, he and I have been friends since we were kids and this is Kate."

"Nice to meet you," Daniel greeted and Jack shook his hand as Sam introduced herself to Marcus.

"Where are you all from then?" Jack questioned.

"Sam and I are from Alteran City," Daniel informed him "And Kate here is from Cadera."

"Oh I know a couple of people from Cadera not including Marcus, where are Laura and John anyway?" Jack questioned noting neither of his friends were where he'd left them.

Laura and Janet had to rescue Elizabeth from Teyla and Vala, apparently Vala likes to shop more that Teyla and the two were getting a bit over excited and planning a huge shopping trip next weekend. They're over there with John now talking to that senior, what was his name, Joseph, that was it," Marcus informed him and Jack inwardly grimaced at the thought of someone loving shopping more than Teyla. Teyla on her own was hard enough to handle.

The hours passed and Jack had a chance to talk to every junior Atala in the room as well as several of the seniors. It was almost 8pm when they finally made it out of the Main Building and realised they'd missed dinner.

"We still have over two hours left before curfew," Teyla said remembering the kitchen closed at 7.00 pm. "We should go into town, it's a half hour there, a half hour back and then we have over an hour to eat."

"I don't know, it'll probably be dark by the time we're coming back," Elizabeth stated.

"I have to agree with Elizabeth," Janet said "I don't particularly like the idea of walking back through the woods in the dark."

"There are seven of us, we'll be fine," Teyla argued.

"We'll come with you as well if you don't mind," Teal'c said as he and Ronon approached the group.

"See, no person or animal will be stupid enough to attack us now," Teyla stated humorously and awaited a response from the rest of the group.

"Alright, I'll come with," Jack announced and the rest of the group nodded as well.

- - -

Dinner had been a lot of fun; they'd arrived in town to find they were not the only members of the guild to have had the same idea. Vala and Cameron were there as well and they quickly joined with the larger group. It hadn't taken long to find a decent restaurant and order their meals. After that they'd all been trading stories and talking about what they thought of Pegasus Magic School.

Teyla and Vala had started planning their big shopping trip again and Elizabeth seemed to make a point of not sitting to near them. Ronon and Teal'c had been rather quiet at the beginning but once John and Marcus had started talking sport to them they'd opened up a little. Time flew by and none of them noticed how late it was getting.

"Oh... My... God," Teyla said as she stared at her watch having just finished her desert.

"What?" Jack questioned.

"It's almost 10.30," she told them and several jaws dropped around the table. "We have last than five minutes until curfew," she exclaimed standing up and grabbing her jacket and bag. The rest of the group followed suit and they quickly paid for their meals before all but running out of the restaurant.

"Guys there's no point in running," Laura said as they neared the edge of town. "It's already past curfew, we were never gonna make it back in time."

The group all slowed down and the guys made a subtle effort to keep the girls toward the middle of the group as they made their way through the dark forest. They kept their noise level down throughout the entire journey and were somewhat relieved to find themselves back in the school grounds. Everyone went their separate ways toward whichever dorm building they were in. The girls all headed in one direction and hand to duck behind trees and walls several times to avoid the schools guard patrols.

Vala split off from the group outside Entrix Towers, as the daughter of the Governor of Larnash she was entitled to a room there. The rest of the girls continued onto Raildon Halls and made it to the door without further incident. They went up the stairs where Laura and Janet headed off to their room on the second floor whilst Elizabeth and Teyla continued up to the third.

They were just over halfway through the corridor to their room when they heard footsteps coming from the other side. They knew it was the guard patrol doing their sweep of the building.

"Run!" Teyla whispered urgently and she and Elizabeth ran the rest of the way to their door trying not to make a sound. Elizabeth glanced down the corridor and saw the shadow of the guard about to come around the corner.

"Hurry up," she whispered to Teyla who quickly opened the door. She stepped into the room still holding the door handle and Elizabeth ran past her allowing Teyla to close the door just in time for the guard to show up.

"That was really close," Teyla stated with a small laugh and Elizabeth shook her head, both in amusement and dismay.

"I hope the others all made it to their rooms okay," she said as she walked over to the window and closed the curtains.

"Me too," Teyla replied as searched out her pyjamas.

TBC

**Authors Note: Yes I had to give teal'c a last name, well everyone else had one it only seemed fair lol. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Steph7085 – **I'm sure they'll be getting themselves into lots of trouble lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Belanna30** – I'm glad you're enjoying the story and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well, thanks for the review.

**Fyd818 – **I figured Teal'c needed a last name for this fic, everyone else had one. I'm not a huge Vala fan either but I'll admit she's a good character and writing her as an eighteen year old should be fun. I'm glad you liked the scene with Liz and Teyla sneaking back into their room, something tells me it won't be the last time I write that lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**lkhoward88** – Thanks for the review, I'm glad you're enjoying the story and I hope you enjoy this chapter too.

**Kuroima – **Wow, thanks for your review. I'm glad you like the story; I'm a big Scifi and Fantasy fan too. I want Potions to be kind of like science which really isn't Jack's strong suit so I'm sure they'll be more accidents to come. Sorry it took a while to get this chapter up; I hope it was worth the wait.

**stargazzr8-28** – I've put a little more of Sam in this chapter as per request but I don't want to rush integrating all the characters too much. See ask and you shall receive lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter

- - -

Chapter 10

Spell Casting had been pretty boring up until that point; they'd simply been learning the theory behind spells and how to pronounce some of the more difficult yet very common words. Now they were finally being given the chance to use their magic, the first permitted act of magic any of the first years would perform in that school.

"Alright students, you all have the wooden block in front of you, let's see what you've got," Professor Penrose instructed.

Teyla looked down at the block sitting on the desk in front of her; she held her hand out to it and took a deep breath. "Permoveo res," she said as she moved her hand to the side and on the desk the wooden block moved in the desired direction, stopping several inches from where it had started. Teyla sighed in relief and smiled at her achievement. Beside her Elizabeth did the same as her block moved past her.

"Permoveo res," John said at the other side of her and Teyla jumped as the block went flying across the room and impacted the wall at the others side with a thud. "Oops."

"A little less enthusiasm please, Mr Sheppard," Penrose instructed and John nodded and ran across the room to retrieve his block dodging another one that some student had sent flying.

Jack moved his own block over a slightly safer distance than John had and John returned to his desk making a far more successful attempt at the spell. They all jumped at the sound of an explosion at the opposite side of the class and they looked up to see smoke coming from the burnt remains of someone's block. The student himself was standing there slightly stunned with black covering his usually pale skin.

"Alright Mr Thomas, shake it off and go get cleaned up," Penrose said just as another small explosion startled the class. "You too Miss Anders."

As the students went back to their spells another block flew across the room and Teyla glanced behind her to see one of Kolya's minions looking rather sheepish. They young blonde woman quickly ran to get the block as the two males of the group stared on in amusement. "Well done Sora," Kolya said as she returned with her block. "You almost knocked out Penrose."

"Yeah, it was a great attempt," the other guy said and Sora glared at him.

"Shut up Laden," she ordered as she placed her block down on her desk and attempted the spell again.

Teyla turned her attention back to what she was supposed to be doing, Jack and John seemed to have started a war between their blocks. Each of them trying to knock the other of the desk and Elizabeth was pushing hers around the table with the spell until Jack's block went astray and knocked hers off course.

"Sorry," Jack said quickly before he muttered the spell again and the block slid back across the desk toward him.

- - -

John threw a large stone into the river and watched as it skimmed across the surface. He turned around to where Elizabeth was sitting under the shade of a nearby tree with a rather large text book beside her, a pad of paper resting on her knees and a pen in hand.

"You know, that essay isn't due in until next week," John informed her as he dropped down in front of her.

"I'd rather get it done now, so it's out of the way," she replied without looking up from the paper she was writing on.

"Potions is boring enough in the lesson, why you'd willingly do it outside the lesson is beyond me," John stated as he routed through his bag for the soda he knew was in there somewhere.

"Unlike you, I don't leave my homework until the last minute, it gets much better grades if you didn't rush through it on the morning it's due in," she told him pointedly looking up at him at last. He shrugged, she did have a point but that didn't mean he was going to admit it out loud.

"Poor Jack and Teyla are sitting in Potions right now," he said, giving up on the lost soda and turning to look at the river. His friends were stuck inside the stuffy potions lab with the boring professor whilst he was out here, in the sun. These days would be gone soon, autumn was coming and it wouldn't be long before it started getting colder.

"I don't envy them," Elizabeth replied going back to her essay.

"Hey, you two," Marcus said as he, Laura and Janet joined them under the tree.

"Hey," John replied.

"Is that the potions essay?" Janet questioned as she leaned over Elizabeth's shoulder and the brunette nodded as she tried to concentrate on what she was reading.

"I finished that yesterday," Janet stated.

"I've got one more page to write," Laura added as she pulled chocolate bars out of her bag and happily handed them out to the group.

"I'm only half way through but we've got another week left yet," Marcus finished and John looked at them all. Why would they all do their homework so early when they still had a week left to do it?

"Damn it, I forgot drinks," Laura cursed as she stood up to head back to the cafeteria. John quickly stood up to follow her, he had Phys Ed next and he'd be damned if he wasn't going to get a drink beforehand.

"Hold on I'm coming with you," John shouted as he ran after her and they made their way through the trees back into the main part of school grounds. It was only second lesson so the cafeteria was relatively empty and there was no queue at the counter so he and Laura quickly grabbed drinks for everyone and, since they weren't part of the usual three meals, paid for them and headed back to the river.

Elizabeth had finally put her essay away and was talking with Janet and Marcus when they arrived back. They handed out the drinks as they sat back down.

"Hold on a minute," Elizabeth said as though she'd suddenly realised something. "Aren't you three supposed to be in Sociology?"

"Professors off sick, all her lessons today have been cancelled," Laura informed them.

"And damn it, we don't have sociology today," John cursed surprised that he'd remembered his Monday timetable, it was finally sinking in it seems.

"Yeah well, the Professors here don't take time off unless they absolutely have to. My guess is if she's ill enough to be out for one day then it's probably something she'll be off with for a few days," Janet explained with a shrug.

"As bad as I fell about my poor teacher suffering at the hands of some illness... yes!" John exclaimed realising he was probably going to get a couple of extra frees this week. Elizabeth shook her head at him whilst Marcus and Laura laughed and Janet just looked passively at him.

- - -

Janet watched as Professor Mathos flirted with the brunette in the front row and as she flirted back. It was really disgusting to watch, Mathos had to be thirty years old and she was eighteen, someone ought to stick him in an ethics lessons.

Mathos finally decided to start the lesson and he stood up straight at the front of the class "Alright class, today we're going to be taking a slightly more hands on approach to your defence lessons. You'll be learning the basic defence spell."

He then went into a long speech about how and when to use the spell, which was far too long considering it was very simple. If someone attacks you, use it.

"It's simply a block spell, to block offensive magic. I must stress to you that whilst it is an effective spell, it is a simple one and the more powerful offensive magic will not be blocked by it. However, it will block most things and it is a legal requirement that everyone your age knows how to use it," Mathos continued. "Now, repeat after me...Claudo."

The class repeated the word simultaneously several times before Mathos stopped them. Alright Miss Alders, please repeat the word."

"Clado," the young girl in the front said and Mathos shook his head slightly.

"Not Clado, Claudo," he informed her patiently and when the girl repeated the word correctly he moved onto the next student, ensuring they were all pronouncing the word correctly. "Now I know that I have yet to teach you any offensive spells and you're not technically supposed to learn any until next year but for the purpose of teaching you to use defensive magic you will need to know at least one offensive spell. It's very simple and does very little damage but you won't be able to practice blocking if you don't know it. Repeat after me, laedo."

They once again went through the process of ensuring they were saying the word right before they were instructed to split into pairs. Laura and Janet paired up while Marcus joined with the guy sitting next to him.

"Alright, one of you will use the offensive spell; the other will use the defensive spell. Now please remember if you fail to block, the offensive spell will cause some pain but it will last only a few seconds. It's primary goal is to inflict a small amount of pain onto someone giving you a few seconds to escape or if you're a bad guy take over the world," Mathos explained and then asked everyone to move away from the desks before he uttered a spell that made them all move to either side of the class room. "Begin."

"Want to be offensive first?" Laura asked and Janet shrugged her agreement as they moved to stand several feet away from each other,

Janet thrust her arm out in front of her "Laedo," she shouted and a small light shot from her hand toward Laura who brought her hand up in front of her and shouted the defensive spell. Unfortunately her first attempt failed and the light hit her in the chest. A look of pain crossed her face as she dropped to her knees and stayed there a few seconds before she let a breath.

"God, that really, really hurts," Laura stated as she slowly stood back up taking a deep breath.

"Nicely done, Miss Frasier," Mathos said as he stood beside her, he was using his smooth voice that he used when he was flirting with the other girls and Janet resisted the urge to roll her eyes or simply turn around and hit him.

"Okay, my turn to hurt you," Laura stated quickly saving Janet from having to deal with Mathos, "Laedo."

"Claudo," Janet called bringing her hand up, she was no more successful than Laura had been and felt the pain rip though her body from where it had impacted her shoulder, she too dropped to her knees for a few seconds until the pain dissipated and she was able to stand.

"You're both reacting a second too late," Mathos informed them, placing a hand on Janet's shoulder "You're using and pronouncing the spell correctly, you're timing is just a little off."

Thanks," Janet said taking a step away from him and focusing on Laura as she once again used the offensive spell on her. This time Laura blocked it and the light dissipated when it neared the blonde's hand. Laura smiled triumphantly as Mathos walked past her momentarily placing his hand on her shoulder as he passed.

"Well done Miss Cadman," he said as he moved to observe Marcus and the other guy and Laura gave Janet a look that Janet read clearly before successfully blocking the next offensive spell sent her way.

The end of the lesson finally came and Janet was relieved that she would have to suffer no more pain for that day. She'd been hit by those stupid lights more than enough times in that lesson.

"I swear if he touches me again, I'll kick his ass so bad he'll thing he's been hit by Dreylan Rhino," Laura stated as she left the room and Janet was quick to voice her agreement.

"If he touches either of you again, I'm going to kick his ass long before you two get the chance," Marcus replied and Janet couldn't help but smile.

"Is that a protective streak I see there, Marcus?" she questioned.

"Damn right is, I'd do the same for Elizabeth and Teyla, though, I think Jack and John have got them covered," he replied and Janet and Laura laughed as they made their way to the cafeteria to meet up with the others.

- - -

"Oh come on Tuesdays aren't that bad," John stated as he shovelled more of his lunch into his mouth.

"That's easy for you to say," Jack complained, "You didn't have to get up for Potions first thing this morning."

"I think Thursdays are worse," Teyla chimed in "We have Phys Ed first thing."

"Yeah and then we have Potions right after that," John replied in dismay and Jack shrugged to show he was conceding the point.

"Hey, do you guys mind if we sit here, most of the other tables are taken?" Sam questioned as she Rodney and Radek joined the group at the table.

"Sure, Marcus, Laura and Janet should be along soon but there's plenty of room," John said accidentally/on purpose knocking Elizabeth as he moved across a seat to make room for the new rivals. Elizabeth looked up from the book she'd been reading and glared at him.

"Sorry," he told her feigning guilt. She'd been sat at the edge of the table reading quietly throughout their entire free and he wasn't planning to let her do it through lunch as well. "What are you reading anyway?" he questioned closing the book cover slightly so he could read the front. "Politics and Ethics, why in Atlantis would you be reading that?"

"Because I want to," was her only reply as she went back to reading. John looked at Jack who seemed to be as unhappy about Elizabeth's lack of socialising as he was. They were both at a loss for what to do though; if she didn't want to talk they couldn't make her. At least they thought they couldn't, Teyla, who was sitting opposite Elizabeth, seemed to think otherwise.

"Alright Elizabeth," she said taking her book from her and putting it in her bag. "That's enough of that, you're upsetting me by sitting there and not talking to me, I feel very neglected."

"I was reading that," Elizabeth stated in mild annoyance but Teyla simply dropped her bag on the floor beneath the table.

"You can have it back later," she informed her and Elizabeth seemed to give up.

"And our little group gets bigger," Marcus stated as he, Laura and Janet finally arrived for lunch.

"What kept you guys?" Jack asked as they all sat down with their trays of food. Marcus sighed dropping his bag as he sat down next to Sam.

"Professor Niya got a little carried away talking about Alveron Plants, she didn't even notice the lesson had ended until we finally decided enough was enough and told her," Marcus informed them and they all laughed.

"I hear she absolutely loves her subject, I kind of wish we had her," Sam stated "Professor Hale seems to get bored of teaching it sometimes but on the plus side he always lets us out of lesson a little early."

"Yeah but Trel has to be the worst teacher by far," John said thoughtfully "Why they'd make all the first years have him as their Potions teacher is beyond me."

"I really hope we don't get stuck with him next year," Rodney told them sounding slightly miserable at the thought. "Potions is my favourite lesson but I'd really rather have a teacher who is a little more... enthusiastic about it."

"I don't know if Trel is the worst," Teyla mused and Elizabeth nodded her head in agreement with her roommate.

"Mathos," was all Elizabeth said.

"I'm not sure if I'd call him the worst," Sam replied thoughtfully "He's definitely a creep but he loves his subject and teaches it well."

"Yeah when he's not ogling the girls, I tell you when he touched me I nearly turned around floored him," Laura informed them.

"_I_ nearly floored him," Marcus added.

"The problem is too many girls enjoy the attention and the rest of us don't do anything about it," Janet stated thoughtfully as though she'd been seriously considering doing something about it.

"But what can you really do?" Radek asked as he finally joined in the conversation.

"Radek's right," Elizabeth said dejectedly "Students have complained before but no one can prove he did anything and he doesn't actually do anything that warrants us complaining. He flirts with the girls that are going to flirt back and with the rest of us, he stands too close or touches our shoulder but nothing that would get him in trouble."

"He's a creep but he's clever about it," Teyla agreed and they quickly moved the conversation onto nicer subjects.

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

**Belanna30 – **There's a little more of Atala in this chapter so I hope you enjoy it, thanks for the review.

**Kuroima – **I'm glad you the block fight made you laugh, I am to entertain lol. Elizabeth opens up a little in this chapter, I hope you enjoy it and thanks for the review.

**Steph7085 – **Marcus really is cute isn't he? A little more of Mathos in this chapter, thanks for the review.

- - -

Chapter 11

"Would you two hurry it up we're gonna be late," Jack called as he stood in Teyla and Elizabeth's dorm room waiting for the two women to exit the bathroom. Elizabeth walked out looking no different then when she had walked in and Jack guessed she'd been in there only to advise Teyla.

"Don't blame me, I'm not the one who can't decide which top to wear," she stated as she grabbed her jacket from the bed and moved to stand between Jack and John.

"Teyla, I swear if you're not outta there in the next few minutes we're leaving without you," Jack called and Teyla finally exited the bathroom, the blue shirt she was wearing when she'd gone in there was now a grey sleeveless top but other than that she looked the same as before.

"Patience is a virtue," she said as she too grabbed her jacket. John and Elizabeth were already on their way out of the door and Jack and Teyla had to hurry to catch up with them.

Lessons that day had been fairly boring but hopefully this meeting would hopefully more than make up for it. It was their first guild meeting and Jack honestly had no idea what to expect. He knew that it wouldn't be anything overly exciting since it was only their first meeting but it was something new. Magic School had been an exciting change but after a whole month there it was all starting to become normal and routine.

They arrived at the great hall to discover they were quite probably the last to arrive, curse Teyla and her love of fashion. The great hall had been arranged for the guild meeting, the hall was always adapted to whatever function it was serving. Currently the chairs were laid out in rows facing the front where the majority of the Atala seniors were stood talking. Another one of the Seniors ushered them to some empty chairs near the front where they realised all the newbies had been placed.

"Okay, looks like everyone's here," Andrew called and the room fell silent. "Welcome back, I hope everyone had a great summer and welcome to all the freshmen. We have some great talent with us this year and hopefully we'll be able to win the inter-guild competition at the end of the year."

"Now," another of the Seniors called "In order to do that we're going to need to work really hard. We have some great talent but so do the other guilds, Corlith won last year, let's not give them the satisfaction of beating us again."

"Right," Andrew agreed "So as usual, you'll all be able to use these meetings as a chance to improve your skills in your areas. Of course the freshman don't know their areas yet but you will be given a temporary area to work in. If we feel at any time that your skills would be better used in another area we'll change it. All of the freshman please remain where you are, the rest of you, go do whatever you need to."

There was a lot of noise from behind the freshmen as the rest of the guild all stood up. Jack turned around and watched as the other students cleared away their chairs to create floor space or simply relocated to another part of the hall.

"Alright freshman, Joseph here is going to read out your temporary areas, you'll then be introduced to the other students that work in that same area. If you don't like where you've been placed please wait until the end and we'll see what we can do," Andrew told them and then stepped back to allow Joseph to read the list.

"Okay, the areas juniors are permitted to take part in are; spell casting, potions, knowledge, sports and defence. Some of you are best suited to one particular area, others excel in all of them, however the maximum number of areas a students is allowed to enter is two, so we've had to pick the ones we feel you'd be best in."

There was a pause as Joseph took a breath before he began reading the list "Carson Beckett, Knowledge. Laura Cadman, Sport and Defence. Samantha Carter, Spell Casting and Potions. Ronon Dex, Sport and Defence. Teyla Emmagan, Spell Casting and Defence. Janet Frasier – Knowledge and Defence. Kate Heightmeyer, Knowledge."

There was another pause as Joseph took a few seconds break from his list reading before continuing. "Daniel Jackson, Knowledge. Marcus Lorne, Sport and Defence. Vala Malduran, Spell Casting and Defence. Rodney McKay, Potions. Cameron Mitchell, Sport and Defence. Teal'c Murray, Sport and Defence. Jack O'Neill, Spell Casting and Sport. John Sheppard, Spell Casting and Defence. Elizabeth Weir, Spell Casting and Knowledge. Radek Zelenka, Potions."

"Thank you Joseph," Andrew began and Jack struggled to remember what his areas had been amongst the mass of names and areas running around in his head. "Alright, those of you with two areas will not necessarily compete in both. Now, obviously we have a senior heading up each area, they'll make decision about who will compete and who won't, they're also here to help you so listen up for your area head."

Great, Jack thought to himself, more stuff to remember.

- - -

John and Elizabeth sat in the cafeteria enjoying a well earned free period. Jack and Teyla had gone into town for lunch but neither Elizabeth or John had felt like making the half hour walk there and then back again in time for Defence. Elizabeth for once was not doing homework or reading and was actually taking part in the conversation which was a good thing since there was no one else there and John would have looked rather insane talking to himself.

"You know it's Jack's birthday on Monday," John stated as he remembered his friend mentioning the date briefly. "We should do something."

"What do you have in mind?" Elizabeth questioned and John thought for a moment, he didn't think Jack wanted a huge fuss making over it but it was the guys birthday.

"There's that new club opening in town this weekend, we can wait until everyone finishes lessons on Monday and go there, we'll make a night of it… or an evening at least, we have to be back by curfew," John suggested and Elizabeth looked at him warily, he guessed night clubs weren't her scene.

"Sounds good," she finally replied, "We'll have to ask the others, see who else wants to come with."

"We shouldn't tell Jack though, it'll be a nice surprise. Oh, oh and we should ask what's her name to come too…. Sam, Jack totally has a thing for her," John rambled as he started to get excited and he noticed Elizabeth was getting slightly caught up in it as well.

"Ya think?" she questioned sarcastically and John paused his excitement momentarily to glare at her.

"Anyway, we should definitely get Marcus, Laura and Janet to come and I was thinking we'd see about getting Ronon and Teal'c to come as well, maybe Cameron and Vala…" John continued and Elizabeth cut him off before he could name anymore people.

"Why don't we just ask all of the first year Atala's?" she questioned figuring that's where he was heading.

"Oh good idea," he said as if it was only just dawning on him and Elizabeth smiled and shook her head. John was about to continue when he noticed the time and quickly reached for his bag. "We have Defence in three minutes," he stated and Elizabeth grabbed her own bag as the two left the table.

"I hope Jack and Teyla make it back in time," Elizabeth said as they left the cafeteria.

"Yeah, I doubt Mathos will be pleased if they're late," John stated with a barely hidden disgust in his tone at the mention of their Defence teacher. They arrived outside the classroom just in time and took their seats at the back of the class. Mathos was just about to begin when Jack and Teyla walked in looking rather sheepish. The Professor sent them a look but didn't say anything as they moved to sit in their seats beside John and Elizabeth.

"You two… are late," John whispered and they both glared at him as they sat down.

"Really I hadn't noticed, thanks for that," Jack replied.

The rest of the lesson passed without incident, Mathos flirted and stared at the girls, everyone took notes and then they were dismissed… well most of them were.

"Mr O'Neill, Miss Emmagan, can you stay behind a moment please," Mathos called and Jack and Teyla both froze in their attempt to sneak out of the classroom unnoticed and winced.

"We'll meet you in History, if you're not there in ten minutes we're sending the guard patrols," John whispered quietly.

"Good luck," Elizabeth added obviously reluctant to leave them there, John put his hand on her back to gently nudge her toward the door. She went without protest only casting a quick glance over her shoulder to her friends.

Jack watched them go and then turned to face Mathos, they'd only been a couple of minutes late, surely he couldn't be that mad.

"Do you want to tell me why you were late for my lesson?" Mathos questioned calmly.

"We were in town getting dinner, it took us a little longer than we thought it would to get back," Jack explained and then stared warily at Mathos when he noticed the professor's attention was entirely on Teyla.

"I see," was all he said as he continued to look at Teyla who was clearly becoming uncomfortable under his scrutiny.

"We're very sorry it won't happen again," Jack said as he took a step closer to Teyla, an action that Mathos seemed to notice as he finally looked at him.

"Next time perhaps you should leave town a little earlier, if it happens again you'll both be in detention, dismissed."

Jack made a point of walking out of the room behind Teyla. He kept his gaze on Mathos as Teyla walked passed him toward the door and then followed after her.

"Creep," Teyla muttered as the walked away from the classroom and Jack put a reassuring hand on her shoulder as they made their way to History of Magic.

- - -

"You may use the text books, the essay will also be your homework so the more of it you get done now, the less you have to do in your own time," the Professor stated and the majority of the class got to work as a quiet chatter filled the room.

"Think they're okay?" Elizabeth asked as she turned to the needed page in the text book.

"I'm sure they're fine," John stated but he noticed Elizabeth seemed to be more concerned than she was letting on. "You're really worried aren't you?" he questioned but she brushed him off.

"No, you're right, I'm sure they're fine," she replied as she started writing on the paper in front of her but John wasn't having any of it.

"Elizabeth I saw your face when we left the room," John stated lowering his voice so they wouldn't be over heard by any of the students who happened to like Mathos, especially the red head sitting on the row in front. "You were really worried, you didn't want to leave them."

Elizabeth put her pen down with a sigh and looked at John, the extent of her worry obvious in her expression. "I just… I don't like him. I think he's capable of more than we give him credit for. I don't know, I just have a really bad feeling about him, the truth is… he scares me."

She'd been more open with him in that moment than in the entire month that he'd known her and he could tell she really meant it, she really was scared of him. He was just figuring out how to respond to that when the classroom door opened and Jack and Teyla walked in.

John had told the Professor that Mathos had kept them behind so she just smiled in acknowledgement and allowed them to take their seats. She obviously assumed John and Elizabeth would tell them what work they were supposed to be doing. Teyla and Jack sat down beside John and took their things out of their bags.

"Everything okay?" John asked, Elizabeth's words had made a little more worried than he had been before.

"Fine, he just told us if we were late again we'd get detention," Jack stated and John nodded his head as he turned to look at Elizabeth. She was still looking at Jack and Teyla who were taking things out of their bags oblivious to their friends gaze. Elizabeth bit her lip for a moment and then turned back to her essay.

"So what are we supposed to be doing?" Teyla asked and John turned his attention back to them as he explained the essay to them.

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

**Saphiretwin369 – **Thanks for the review, you'll see why Elizabeth is so worried in the next few chapter, hope you enjoy this one.

**Sparklyshimmer2010 – **Mathos really is a creep, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph7085 – **With all the major characters finally in the story I'm gonna have a lot of fun with their relationships. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Kuroima – **Elizabeth's feeling about Mathos is definitely not a good a thing, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Bunnylass – **I'm glad you're enjoying the story and I hope you like this chapter too, thanks for the review.

- - -

Chapter 12

The weekend came and went and John and Elizabeth managed to get all of the first year Atala's in on Jack's birthday plans. Jack was still oblivious and would remain oblivious until that night when they dragged him into the club where the others would all be waiting for them.

Lessons seemed to drag more than ever with them all looking forward to that evening. They'd all wished Jack a happy birthday and given him a few cards and gifts so he wouldn't suspect they were up to something else.

"How about the four of us go into town later and get dinner, it'll be fun?" John questioned and Elizabeth and Teyla both nodded their heads in silent agreement and waited on Jack's answer, if he said no it would ruin the whole plan.

"Sure, why not," Jack replied and the others mentally signed in relief.

"Good, we have to get to General Magic," John said casting a glance at Elizabeth and the two of them grabbed their things and left. Teyla watched them go until they were out of sight, Elizabeth was trying not to be amused by whatever John had said.

"You know, I wish he'd just ask her out already," Teyla stated exasperatedly as she watched her two friends leave the cafeteria.

"Elizabeth seems a little too closed off right now, I doubt she'd say yes," Jack replied as he stuck his fork into his cake.

"She'd want to though," Teyla said after a moment and Jack looked thoughtful for a moment as he considered it.

"Maybe, but I think she's only just learning to trust us, best not to force the issue," Jack didn't even look at Teyla as she sighed in defeat before he added "Yet."

Teyla smiled again at the mischievous tone in Jack's voice and decided she could definitely wait before she started meddling around in her friends love lives, at least those two anyway. Jack however was another story, she knew Sam would be at the club tonight and she intended to play matchmaker to her hearts content.

"What?" Jack asked when he realised that the mischievous smile had yet to leave her face and Teyla quickly removed it.

"Nothing," she stated innocently, almost gave the plan away Teyla, nice one.

- - -

The hands on the clock were moving ridiculously slowly and John had to resist the urge to get a ladder and grab the damn thing off the wall to make sure it was working probably. These seconds seemed to be taking much loner than a second to pass in his opinion. There were a few quiet conversations around the classroom as everyone made notes they would need for their homework, most people seemed to be actually doing their work, except that kid in the corner who John was fairly sure was actually sleeping.

"Staring at the clock will only make it seem slower," Elizabeth stated when John sighed loudly without looking up from the one and half pages of notes she'd already made. John looked at his own paper which had a total of six lines written on it… one of them was the title.

"I swear today has got to be the longest day of the year so far," John replied in resignation as he picked up his pen and tried to concentrate on the text book that was sitting in front of him.

"It's no longer than any other day," Elizabeth said absently.

"Feels like it," he muttered.

"Why don't you just get some work done?" Elizabeth asked clearly getting irritated.

"Because I can't concentrate, can't I just borrow your notes later?" he questioned hopefully and Elizabeth looked at him in annoyance.

"No, I refuse to let you anywhere near my notes," she told him simply before going back to her work. Silence fell but it took John les than a minute to break it.

"I'm just so bored," John stated and when Elizabeth didn't respond he continued "I mean really, really bored." She still didn't answer, was she even paying attention to him? "You could look up from your work for two seconds just to humour me you know."

Again Elizabeth didn't reply though he was fairly sure that she'd heard him and was just ignoring him. "Elizabeth," he said quietly in an effort to get her attention. She still didn't respond and out of pure boredom he decided to persevere. "Elizabeth… Lizabeth… Lizabeth." She continued to ignore him but he could tell he was starting to get to her. "Elizabeth… Lizabeth… Elizabeth."

"What?!" she questioned a little too loudly attracting glances from the class and a disproving look from the teacher. John quickly picked up his pen and started making the notes he should have been doing all lesson. "I ought to just kill you and rid us all of your annoyingness," Elizabeth whispered to him.

John barely kept the smirk of his face as he looked up briefly from his notes "Shh, I'm trying to work."

- - -

"Come on Elizabeth, you can't stay mad at me forever," John said as he and Elizabeth walked into the Magical Ethics classroom. Jack watched as Elizabeth took her seat without a word to John who sat down next to her.

"What did you do?" Jack asked and John looked at him indignantly.

"What do you mean 'what did I do?' who said I did anything?" he questioned and both Jack and Teyla gave him a look to which he rolled his eyes and turned back to Elizabeth. "I'm gonna keep annoying you until you talk to me."

"Wasn't that the problem in the first place?" she questioned the air before turning to John "I'm not speaking to you until you apologise."

"Alright, fine, I'm sorry, happy now?" he asked and she smiled slightly.

"Ecstatically," she replied before turning her attention to Professor Colbrun who was now standing in front of the class waiting for it to quieten.

"Alright class, if you could please take out your essays I'll collect them in a few moments," Colbrun began "Now we're going to be looking at section 3 of the Ethical code today, can anyone tell me what section 3 is about?"

As usual in this class Elizabeth's hand went up as well as a few others and Colbrun gestured for her to answer. "Section three governs the use of Gaining Magic, such as spells for money or knowledge."

"Excellent Miss Weir…" Colbrun continued to go on about the different area's within section three. Clearly it was going to take a few lessons to cover this subject and John opened his pad of paper to note down the occasional bit of information.

- - -

Elizabeth shook her head emphatically at the garment Teyla was currently holding up. There was no way she was wearing it, the red fabric would barely cover her thighs and showed off more of her back than Elizabeth would have liked. Teyla seemed insistent however and the grin that appeared on her friends face succeeded only in making her more worried.

"Elizabeth, it'll look great on you, I actually bought it for me but I just don't think it suits me, you however would look fantastic in it," Teyla informed her adamantly.

"If it doesn't suit you why did you buy it?" Elizabeth questioned as she continued to stare at the dress.

"It was on sale and I didn't really look at it, just grabbed it and paid for it," she stated with a shrug and then looked at Elizabeth expectantly. "I'm not backing down, you _are_ going to where this dress."

Elizabeth sighed as she grabbed the dress from her friends hands and put it on her bed. "Fine, but I got first dibs on the shower," she informed her and walked into the bathroom before Teyla could stop her.

"What?!" Teyla exclaimed as the bathroom door closed "Oh that is so not fair," she said with a mild glare at the door before she started searching her wardrobe for the shoes she knew would match that dress, she was sure they were in their somewhere.

Twenty minutes later Elizabeth stepped out of the bathroom and Teyla smiled handing her the shoes as she walked passed her "And I'll be doing your hair," she said just before se closed the bathroom door.

Elizabeth sighed yet again as she put the shoes on the bed beside the dress. Why couldn't she have been given a normal room mate, the quiet kind that kept themselves to themselves?

- - -

John knocked on Jack's door and waited for his friend to answer. He hoped his outfit didn't give away the fact that they weren't just going for a quiet dinner in town. His dark blue jeans and black shirt seemed to be casual enough but at the same time were dressy enough for the club. Laura had stopped by his room wearing a denim skirt and cleavage revealing green top, it had been a girly image he would never have associated with the blonde. She'd told him that Teyla and Elizabeth looked a little too dressy for 'just a quiet dinner' and would have given the plan away so they'd gone into town with the others.

Now all that was left was for John to get Jack into town and ensure his friend looked the part without giving away what the part was. Thankfully when Jack finally opened the door wearing dark trousers and a leather jacket John decided the birthday boy looked fine.

"You ready to go?" John questioned and Jack nodded grabbing his wallet and shoving it in his pocket as they left. "The girls are gonna meet us there, something about Teyla wanting to get some shoes that are on sale before someone beats her to it."

"Teyla and shopping," Jack replied in amusement and though it had been a lie he agreed with the sentiment anyway.

They made the walk through the forest fairly quickly and Jack it seemed had not even gotten suspicious that they were all up to something. "So where are we meeting the girls?" he asked as they turned down a street and John could see the lights from the club they were heading to.

"In here?" John said grabbing the door and gesturing for Jack to precede him in. Jack gave him a funny look but entered the club anyway.

"Why would they wanna meet us in here?" Jack questioned and before John could respond they were hit with a chorus of 'Happy Birthday'. Jack seemed to be completely taken aback by the large group of people that had gathered and he turned to look at John. "This was your idea wasn't it?"

Marcus walked over and patted Jack on the back "Of course it was his idea, now come on, first drink's one me."

John watched as Marcus guided Jack over to the bar and then looked over the group, it seemed everyone had turned up. He spotted Teyla in a very flattering and rather revealing blue dress and then he registered Elizabeth and his mouth nearly dropped open.

She was stood talking to Teyla and Kate wearing a red dress he was sure had to have been Teyla's choosing because he'd never once imagined she'd even own something like that. The red fabric fell to just below her thighs exposing her long legs. Her back too was exposed to over half way down and her hair had been pulled back into a bun with just a few curls hanging loose.

It was Teyla who spotted him and waved him over with huge grin on her face. He recovered from his shock and walked over to join them just as Kate moved over to join Rodney and Radek. "Don't you two look nice?" he stated and Teyla's grin widened.

"Nice?" Teyla questioned "Look at us, we look fantastic."

"That you do," John replied and noticed Elizabeth looking down at the floor and was the colour of her neck and cheeks starting to match the dress? She was embarrassed and he found it strangely adorable.

"So were you all in this little plan or was, wow," Jack said as he came over and then looked at Elizabeth. "Why Miss Weir, I do believe you're blushing," he stated and then turned to look at Teyla. "Your choice?"

"Yep," Teyla replied proudly and Jack smiled and held a hand out to her.

"Well it was an excellent choice and you're looking quite stunning yourself, come on, dance with me," he instructed and Teyla smiled and took his hand as the two of them walked off to the dance floor.

"Come on," John said holding his own hand out to Elizabeth she looked at it for a moment before she took it and they joined their two friends on the dance floor. The majority of the people on the dance floor were not members of their little party and most of them were already drunk, they struggled to keep up with the fast paced music and continually knocked into each other and the innocent bystanders.

Jack and Teyla seemed to be in hysterics over something through out the entire song that they danced to. John and Elizabeth couldn't help but join in with their laughter when they saw what they were laughing at. Rodney it appeared was a light weight and the few pints he'd had had turned him into one of the stumbling drunks trying to dance.

After two songs the four of them moved over to the bar for more drinks and Jack almost spat his drink out when Sam walked over to him wearing a short black denim skirt and dark top.

"Happy Birthday, enjoyed your day?" Sam questioned and Jack seemed to be frozen so John subtly elbowed the man into action.

"Yes I have, thank you. Wanna dance?" he asked and Sam smiled and nodded and John almost laughed as Jack followed her back to the dance floor looking more nervous than he'd ever seen him. The rest of the party was a lot of fun but between the drinking and the dancing everyone lost track of time.

"How the hell did we end up stumbling through the forest at 1 o clock in the morning?" Elizabeth questioned wishing she'd worn something a little less revealing cos now she was freezing. Teyla hadn't even let her bring a jacket, in fact most of them didn't have jackets. Only Marcus, Jack, Carson Sam and Janet had been sensible enough to bring them.

Teyla was currently wearing Jack's and Laura was wearing Carson's which left Elizabeth and Vala the only the girls that were freezing to death. Add to this the fact they were probably all going to get caught sneaking back into school grounds and things seemed a little bleak. She was already exhausted and lagging behind the rest of the group. John seemed to have slowed his pace so she wouldn't be at the back of the group alone and she noticed the others casting glances backwards to ensure she was still there.

A shiver went up her spine and she involuntarily shuddered against the cold, she was going to kill Teyla for this later. "You alright?" John questioned stepping closer to her and she nodded her head.

"Just cold, this dress was not meant for midnight treks through the forest," she told him trying to lighten her mood. He smiled and took another step toward her to close the distance between them. He put an arm around her shoulder and Elizabeth almost flinched at the unexpected contact. She felt warmer almost instantly though and she soon relaxed.

That was until they heard a noise behind them and both she and John snapped around to find the source of it. It was dark though and they couldn't see anything there.

"You two alright?" they heard Cameron ask followed by footsteps heading toward them.

They heard another noise which sounded suspiciously like a twig snapping and Elizabeth unconsciously stepped closer to John. He put a hand on her back and stared back at the seemingly empty path behind them. Ronon, Teal'c and Jack moved to stand next to them.

"There's something there," John stated confidently which only made Elizabeth more afraid. The rest of the group moved to join them and Jack, Ronon, Teal'c and Cameron pulled small torches out of their pockets.

The lights were small compared to the darkness but the small circles of light on the path revealed there was nothing there. The group didn't relax though and Jack turned to look at them. "We should keep moving," he stated, the slight drunkenness that some members of the group had been suffering from before was gone. The danger that was lurking in the tress had quickly sobered everyone up.

They were still a few minutes away from the school when they heard more noise from the trees. This time though they didn't need to look for the source, six wolves walked out from between the trees. Elizabeth once again found herself stepping closer to John and he put an arm around her waist to keep her from moving very far.

"No running," John said quietly "If we run they'll chase us."

The sounds of movement in the trees around them alerted them to the fact that more of the wolves were there. "How many are there?" Vala whispered fearfully.

"Pegasus wolves hunt in packs, pretty big packs," John stated as one of the wolves growled at them making the majority of the group jump including Elizabeth who was so close to running now that if John wasn't holding her in place she would have taken off.

"How far are we from the school?" Laura questioned jumping back when another wolf growled.

"A couple of minutes, we'd never make it more than a few seconds if we try and run," John told her and Laura nodded her head taking a step backward when one of the wolves got a little too close. She almost walked into Carson and Daniel who quickly manoeuvred her between them.

"At least it's not my birthday anymore, cos getting eaten alive on my birthday would've sucked," Jack stated and John saw both Sam and Teyla roll their eyes at him.

"Okay so if running isn't an option, what do we do?" Elizabeth asked and John looked into the trees around them to try and figure out how many of them there were. He knew they were in trouble though, Pegasus wolves were smart creatures, they wouldn't have shown themselves unless they'd been sure they could take down their prey.

Sounds from further back down the path caught their attention, the sounds were getting louder and John figured it was another group of students who'd been out partying and were now going to sneak back into the school. The wolves obviously heard them too and smart creatures that they were they headed back into the trees.

"Let's get the hell out of here," Daniel said and the group all but ran the rest of the way to the school gate. One of the guards was nearby so they ducked behind the wall to wait fro him to pass.

"You alright?" John asked Elizabeth and she nodded her head.

"I'm not," Vala pointed out still sounding shook up and Cameron and Jack both put a hand on her shoulder.

"Alright, let's go," Ronon said once the guard was out of sight. The group immediately split up the boys going one way and the girls going the other.

"Just our luck," Jack stated as they made their way through campus "Beltry Towers is as the exact opposite side of school grounds."

The majority of the boys split off near Demiro Halls and only Jack and John were left to run across campus. They had to duck and hide several times but they finally made it to Beltry Towers and up to their floor.

"Next year, how about we just have a nice quiet dinner?" Jack suggested.

TBC


	13. Chapter 13

**Bunnylass – **Thanks for the review, it was a rather eventful birthday wasn't it lol. I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and I hope you like this one too.

**Steph7085** – Teyla just seems like the teenage matchmaking type lol. I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and the wolf scene. Thanks for the review.

**Sparklyshimmer2010** – The wolves were scared off so I'm sure the other students are okay too lol. I'm glad you liked the shippy bits in the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too, thanks for the review.

**FeedtheFlames** – Nerve-wracking is what I was going for lol. I'm glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the review.

**Saphiretwin369** – Glad you liked the little bit of Sparky in the wolves scene and I hope you enjoy this chapter, thanks for the review.

**Kuroima** – I hate it when people distract me in the middle of a story lol. Thanks for the review, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and the Jack/Sam, I hope you like this chapter too.

- - -

Chapter 13

Elizabeth walked out of the bathroom dressed and ready to face another day of school. Teyla was still out cold and Elizabeth called her name as she searched her wardrobe for her denim jacket. Teyla didn't budge and once Elizabeth had located the garment she put it down on her bed and walked over to Teyla's.

"Teyla," she said but still got no response, she gave her room mate a push and Teyla groaned at the unwanted intrusion into her sleep. "Teyla, it's time to get up."

"Go away," Teyla moaned as she turned her face into the pillow and Elizabeth sighed and pushed her again.

"If you don't get up you'll be late," Elizabeth stated.

"Late for what?" Teyla questioned sleepily and Elizabeth almost had to laugh and then she got an idea.

"Vala's waiting to go to the shoe sale," she stated and Teyla's eyes finally opened as she sat up.

"What shoe sale?" she asked still half asleep but Elizabeth had at least succeeded in waking her up, well half waking her up anyway.

"The one in your potions lesson, now get up," Elizabeth instructed and Teyla turned to look at her room mate levelling her with a sleepy glare. It might have been more intimidating if Teyla hadn't been wearing pink pyjamas with her unruly bed hair.

"I hate you," Teyla stated and Elizabeth nodded her head with a small smile as she grabbed her friends arm and dragged her out of the bed. She ignored Teyla's brief yelp as she stumbled over the floor and guided her to the bathroom. "Did I mention I hate you?" Teyla questioned as she closed the bathroom door.

As fun as last night had been, well at least up until the walk home where they'd almost become dinner for the local wolves, Elizabeth didn't think that partying on a school night had been the best idea. They were all going to be exhausted and half of them were going to have killer hangovers, especially Rodney. They'd barely made it back to the dorms without being caught last night.

She didn't even know why she was awake this early, she didn't even have any lessons until second period. She'd never been one to sleep in though and once she was awake, she was awake, she'd never have fallen back to sleep. Elizabeth heard the tell tale signs of the shower coming from the bathroom and hoped Teyla didn't fall asleep and injure herself. There was a quiet thud on the door which usually meant something had been suck to it.

When she opened the door she found an envelope with Teyla's name on it and another one with hers. She put Teyla's on the dresser like she always did and then sat on her bed to open hers. She hadn't been expecting any mail, Teyla got mail usually once a week but this was the first Elizabeth had received any.

It was a letter from her father, a month late, but it was better than none at all which if she was honest was what she had been expecting. It was a brief letter, he was only acknowledging that he'd received the one she'd sent on her first day, he told her not to make too many waves and behave herself and that was about it.

She folded it up and put it in her draw, she'd reply to it later. Teyla finally walked out of the bathroom in her towel and walked to her wardrobe on autopilot. She grabbed some clothes, turned and walked back into the bathroom. Elizabeth smiled slightly, obviously she wasn't fully awake yet. She stood up and went to close her friends wardrobe.

Teyla walked out of the bathroom again few minutes later, this time dressed in jeans and a blue top. "Good morning," she said as she sat down at her dresser and started working a brush through her hair.

"Feel better?" Elizabeth asked and Teyla nodded.

"Much."

It didn't take Teyla long to do her hair and make up and locate her books for that morning. "You coming to get breakfast?" she questioned as she was leaving "If you're not sleeping you might as well."

"Sure," Elizabeth replied, grabbing her jacket and her bag as she and Teyla left the room.

To her surprise John was in the cafeteria with Jack, she'd been expecting him to still be sleeping, he usually was. Jack was obviously still half asleep because he was clearly on autopilot as he ate his cereal.

"You guys get back to your room okay?" Teyla questioned as she and Elizabeth dropped their bags on the floor beneath the table.

"Yeah, piece of cake," John said which seemed to momentarily snap Jack back to reality until he realised the cake reference was just a saying. Teyla nodded and went to get something to eat and Elizabeth followed behind her. Teyla didn't have long to eat before she had to drag Jack off to the potions lab. John was just finishing his bacon sandwich and Elizabeth tossed half her cereal in the bin, she didn't much feel like eating.

"You okay?" John asked her when she settled back into her seat.

"I'm fine," she replied after a moment and John gave her a disbelieving look.

"That was pretty scary last night," he stated and Elizabeth suppressed a shudder at the memory, she'd never been that scared in her life, it was kinda pathetic really.

"Yeah, but we all made it back in one piece and learnt not to take midnight walks through the Pegasus Forest," she responded.

"Yeah, I think we were all little scared, I think that Teal'c guy was trying not to scream," he told her humorously and while she had no doubt that he'd just made that up, Teal'c didn't seem like the screaming type, the imagery brought a smile to her face which seemed to have been his goal.

- - -

Having dropped his books off in his room John was heading back to the cafeteria to meet with the others when a familiar and oh so unwanted voice called to him. "Hey John," he winced and turned around. A month at Pegasus and he'd been doing so well at avoiding her. He turned around to face the brunette who had some nerdy kid following her.

She'd definitely settled into Pegasus nicely, she was comfortable enough now that she was wearing, well very little actually. Her skirt barely covered her thighs and her top revealed more cleavage that was really appropriate. It was a fairly hot day but it was not that hot. That kind of outfit should be reserved for nights out on the town.

"Chaya," he greeted and tried to smile but he was fairly sure it came out as more of a grimace.

"This campus is so big, you don't run into people nearly as often as you would like," Chaya stated and John tried once again to force a smile.

"Guess not," he stated glancing at the nerdy kid.

"Oh where are my manners?" she questioned rhetorically. You have manners? Was all John could think but he kept his thoughts to himself. "This is Ben Kavanaugh," she told him. Not her usual company but then Chaya always had the nerds doing things for her, he was probably just her lackey, poor guy.

"Nice to meet you," John said.

"So anyway, how about you and me get together later, it'll be just like old times," Chaya suggested and John cut in before she could get any further in her planning.

"I'm sorry I'm kinda busy, I have plans with some friends," he told her trying to find the first escape he could from this conversation.

"Surely you can cancel," she stated as if that should have been obvious.

"No, they're my friends Chaya, I'm not gonna cancel on them," he replied and she looked dejected for a moment before continuing.

"How about tomorrow then?" she questioned "We could go and get some dinner and…"

"Look Chaya, I broke up with you in high school, I really don't think dinner and whatever else you have planned is a good idea. Now if you'll excuse me, I have people waiting for me," he informed her and then quickly walked away before she could stop him. He really hoped she'd just get the message but somehow that didn't seem likely.

- - -

History of Magic had yet to become an interesting lesson., they were still studying the era where Magic was only just being discovered and Jack had quickly learnt that it was a particularly boring era. Unfortunately it was also a long one with lots of uninteresting events which affected the evolution of magic so they'd be studying it for a long while to come. The era had its moments that weren't quite so dull but they were few and far between.

"This was why most people surrounded themselves by the protection symbol, the circle could be seen everywhere, in people homes, on their clothes or their jewellery," the professor continued and even though he found it all very dull Jack made the notes he would need for the exams later in the year.

He glanced at the clock, there were only a few more minutes of this torture left and then they'd be able to move on to their next form of torture, Defence. Hopefully Mathos had gotten over he and Teyla being late to his lesson, a mistake Jack did not intend to make again. He felt more uncomfortable about Mathos now than he had before, the way he had stared at Teyla whilst telling them both off had creeped him out and he knew it had bothered Teyla as well.

"Alright, that's enough for today, your dismissed," the professor informed them. The class got to their feet, tossing their belongings in their bag and making their way to the door.

"Oh joy my favourite lesson," Teyla stated sarcastically as they too left the class room.

"Don't let him get to you," Jack replied, we only have to put up with him for an hour.

"That's an hour too long as far as I'm concerned," she continued to complain and Jack put an arm over her shoulder.

"Don't worry Teyla, we'll protect you," he told her humorously even though he really meant it. "Won't we John?"

"We will," his friend backed him up from where he was walking a few steps behind them with Elizabeth.

They took their seats in the Defence class room and the lesson went by smoothly though it was not lost on Jack that Mathos seemed to be looking in Teyla's direction far more than he had done previously.

"Don't forget I want your essays on Charms as a defence this time next week, I'll see you all on Friday, dismissed," Mathos stated and the majority of the class made a beeline for the door, Jack and co amongst them. Only the girls that liked Mathos were slow to get out of the class room.

"I am so ready for lunch," Jack announced "They're serving chocolate cake today."

Laura, Marcus and Janet were already in the cafeteria when they arrived discussing last nights Duel Match between Cadera's champion and Earleth, Earleth had of course won.

"How is your guy better than ours?" Janet asked incredulously "He got his ass kicked."

"Only because your guy was taking those Magic enhancers, it's all over the news papers," Marcus informed her and Janet sighed.

"First of all Magic enhancers don't work and secondly, don't believe everything you read," she stated in exasperation before eating one of the fries she had been neglecting.

"Drugs or no drugs, our guy is the better dueller, he should have won," Laura argued receiving a nod of agreement from Marcus and another sigh from Janet in response.

"Obviously he's not better, our guy won, Jack back me up," Janet requested as Jack sat down beside her.

"Our guy kicked your ass," was all he said and when both Laura and Marcus opened their mouths to protest further he held his hand up to stop them "Ah, ah, ah, John tell your subjects to be gracious losers and accept that Earleth won."

"As much as I hate to admit it, the news paper I got that covered the fight tells me that our guy sucked last night," he informed his two friends rather solemnly "As Jack says, be gracious losers."

"I still think we should have won, our guy was probably having an off day," Laura continued.

"Yeah well, Athos would have kicked both your asses," Teyla stated and Jack turned to look at her.

"Don't you start, Earleth always beats Athos," he argued.

"Yeah but our new guy would win hands down," she defended and the bickering continued. John could only roll his eyes and gestured for Elizabeth to follow him to the cafeteria. She did so eagerly and they moved away from the noisy argument and toward the cafeteria queue.

"I have to say, I'm surprised you're not joining in," Elizabeth told him and he shrugged.

"We lost, clearly we're not the better state," he replied and she smiled slightly casting a look over he shoulder where the argument seemed to be continuing. "I swear if they're not done when we finish our dinner I'm actually going to go to the library and doing my homework, just for the peace and quiet," he added.

TBC


	14. Chapter 14

**Sophie Fatale – **I know there's not much going on at the moment and unfortunately there's no Shep whump in this. It is only the first instalment of the series though and I promise there will be whump for all the characters sooner or later. Other than that I'm glad you're enjoying the story, thanks for the review.

**Bunnylass** – I figured with Elizabeth's very closed of personality in this the only way she'd get close to John is if she didn't realise it was happening. I don't like Chaya either lol and in later instalments you're going to really hate her. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter. 

**Sparklyshimmer2010 – **More shippiness is coming in the next few chapter, though maybe not what you expect lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Steph7085 – **I'm glad you liked the image of Teal'c screaming lol and I couldn't get it out of my head either. As per demand here is more, I hope you enjoy it and thanks for the review.

**Saphiretwin369 – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked John's line about doing his homework for the peace and quiet. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Belanna30 – **I'm glad you're enjoying the shippiness that is starting to unfold and as for who will make a move first, you'll just have to wait and see lol. Thanks for the review, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Kuroima – **The scene with Teyla was my favourite part of the last chapter to write I think. I'm glad you liked it. More Sparky will be showing itself in the next few chapter so I hope you enjoy it, thanks for the review.

- - -

Chapter 14

Elizabeth looked at John again and then quickly looked back at Teyla to continue listening to the on going conversation about shoes. She couldn't explain it but she felt closer to him since the incident in the forest on Jack's birthday. For some reason she'd felt far safer with John than she knew she should have done, in fact, if it hadn't been for him she probably would have run off and got herself killed.

Teyla gave her a look and Elizabeth found herself now directing her gaze down at her food. She really had to stop glancing at John, if Teyla was any indication she was doing it far too often. As if the thought had infiltrated her subconscious she looked up at John and was forced to once more avert her gaze as she realised he had been looking at her.

Why the hell was he looking at her, she knew why she was looking at him but why was he looking at her? Maybe he'd noticed her staring after all and was trying to catch her in the act, well if that was the case then he'd just succeeded.

He was her friend and he'd stopped her from doing something stupid and getting herself killed by a bunch of wolves, that was it. She'd admit to a slight attraction to him but he was a good looking guy, any woman would be nuts not to be a little attracted but then Jack was a good looking guy too and she felt no attraction to him whatsoever.

"So I was thinking I'd buy the pink ones to go with that new dress I bought the other day, what do you think?" Teyla questioned and Elizabeth finally had to look back at the brunette.

"Aren't you better off asking Vala this question?" she asked and Teyla shook her head emphatically.

"I think she wants the shoes too and there's only a few pairs left, I'll only get a biased answer from her. I'm going to be lucky to get them as it is, I'm going to have to leave as soon as school ends," she stated and Elizabeth shook her head.

"If you want them that badly go and buy them, if they don't match the dress I'm sure they'll go with something else in your wardrobe and even if they don't, you can go and buy something else to match," Elizabeth replied and Teyla grinned excitedly.

"That's a great idea, see, and you think you aren't good at this. We can leave as soon as we get out off…" Teyla began but Elizabeth cut her off abruptly.

"No way, I am not going. Shopping with you is on my list of situations to avoid," Elizabeth told her and Teyla pouted.

"But you have… wait a minute you have a list?" she questioned.

"Well… no… but if I did it would be on there," Elizabeth stated and Teyla glared at her.

"You're coming with me and that's that," Teyla stated adamantly and Elizabeth opened her mouth to protest but Teyla cut her off with a shake of the hand and look that dared her to continue. Elizabeth promptly shut her mouth and surrendered to her fate, she'd better go and find her flat shoes, the slight heal on the ones she was wearing would have her in tears before Teyla was even close to finished.

- - -

"It's getting really pathetic you know," Jack stated as he sat next to John in World of Magic. They were supposed to be doing research for their group presentation but given that they had two weeks to do it they weren't in a hurry.

Teyla and Elizabeth had gone to the library to find a book that they would need and John and Jack were supposed to be working their way through the class text books to find anything useful. They'd all had to pick an animal that was native to either Pegasus or one of the states surrounding it. Jack had joked that they should do the Pegasus wolf but even he hadn't actually found that funny.

Instead they'd gone with the girl's choice, the Arlestra, a creature native to Torvinus, Sateda and Krale. Despite being in all three of these states it was actually a very rare creature having only been spotted four times in the last century. It almost resembled a wolf but it's fur was completely white, an unusual colour for forest animals.

"What's pathetic?" John asked as he lazily turned the pages of his text book not really paying attention to what was on them.

"You and Elizabeth," Jack replied and that seemed to catch his attention. John faltered in his rhythmic page turning before recovering and continuing like it didn't matter.

"What do you mean?" he asked and if Jack didn't know better he would have fallen for the 'I have no idea what you're talking about' tone.

"You know exactly what I mean, you and…." Jack stopped himself when he saw the subject of their discussion walk through the door with several heavy looking books in her hands. Teyla followed behind her carrying a similar hefty load and Jack got up to relieve them of the books. He took those Elizabeth was carrying and wondered how the hell she'd managed to carry them from the library and up several flights of stairs to the classroom.

John took the books from Teyla and both men placed them down on the desk with a slight thud. "I thought you only went to get one book," Jack stated with a hint of question in his voice.

"We did but then we found some others that were useful too," Elizabeth informed them.

"So we got them all out," Teyla finished with a shrug as she sat down.

"They actually let you take this many books out?" Jack questioned and Elizabeth and Teyla both looked at him for a moment.

"You really don't go to the library very often do you," Elizabeth stated "They let you take up to five books out each and you can keep them for a week."

"Good to know," John said as he started looking though the books the two girls had brought.

"This one will probably be the most useful," Elizabeth said as she took a book from the pile in front of John. "It's completely based on the Arlestra, the rest of them are more general magical creature books."

"Maybe we should have got that one about creatures and myths," Teyla mused as she eyed the books on the desk.

"Oh I think we have enough books here to do the presentation," Jack stated also eyeing the books "Or start a small library."

- - -

Elizabeth and Teyla had gone into town and poor Laura had been dragged along with them. Janet had adamantly refused and then made a beeline for the nearest exit before they could protest. Unfortunately Laura had not been paying much attention to the conversation and as such had not made her escape when she'd had the chance to. So now she and Elizabeth were suffering at the hands of a shopping Teyla.

Vala was sulking because she'd found out from a supposedly very reliable source that there was only one pair of those pink shoes left in their size and since Teyla was already on her way she would undoubtedly buy them.

"She'd better let me borrow them," Vala mumbled bitterly as the rest of the group tried to ignore her. "The little weasel, sneaking off to buy them without telling me, I mean that's just low."

"Vala they're just shoes," Rodney made the mistake of pointing out and Vala's eyes widened in anger.

"Just shoes!" she shouted making Rodney shrink back "They're not just shoes, they would have gone perfectly with that new top of mine and with those jeans I bought with the pink hem. Pink isn't even Teyla's colour. I can't believe she'd go behind my back and buy them."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, drama queen," Cameron began, cutting off Vala's ramble "But weren't you planning to do the same thing earlier. You're just upset cos Teyla beat you to it."

"She only beat me because I lost my free period to a detention with Professor Maple and the woman lost track of time between her lectures and kept me there for an extra twenty minutes," Vala complained sinking further into her chair.

"It's your own fault, Maple warned you three times about applying your nail polish during lesson," Cameron reminded her.

"I was just doing some repair work," Vala defended.

"Next time do it outside the lesson," Cameron finished and Vala's only response was to stick her tongue out and go back to sulking.

"Well, if that's the end of the drama, I'm gonna go and get cake," Jack informed the group and then left in the direction of the cafeteria queue.

"Bring me some," Vala shouted to his retreating form and Cameron turned to look at her.

"I thought you said you were on a diet?" he questioned and Vala sat up straight in her chair.

"Yeah but this whole incident has upset me and I'm going to eat my sorrows besides I decided I don't need to diet. Why are you saying I do need to?" she asked.

Cameron rolled his eyes "No, I told you before that you didn't need to diet."

Vala narrowed her eyes and stared at him suspiciously for several long moments until Jack arrived with her cake.

- - -

"My feet are aching," Laura complained as the three girls entered school grounds with a tonne of shopping bags which were mostly Teyla's.

"Say that one more time and I'm gonna hit you with these bags," Teyla threatened.

"My feet are aching," Laura complained and then ducked to the side when Teyla swung the shopping bags toward her. "Look I'm all for exercise and staying active but four hours of shopping is just ridiculous and these shoes have a slight heal on them and that's not helping."

"I did warn you before we left not to wear those shoes but you insisted you could handle it," Elizabeth reminded her and Laura turned her head to glare at her.

"Anymore I told you so and I'll hit you with my bags," she mimicked Teyla's earlier threat.

"There you are, we were beginning to get worried," Jack said as they neared Entrix Towers and found the some of their group stood around. Jack, John and Cameron immediately relieved the girls of the hefty weight they were carrying.

"You," another person shouted and Teyla winced when she saw an angry Vala storming in her direction. "You sneaky, back stabbing, weasel of a friend, how dare you go and buy those shoes behind my back!"

"Oh as if you weren't planning the same thing," Teyla defended and Vala opened and closed her mouth before coming up with a response.

"That's not the point," she stated and Teyla looked at her incredulously.

"You can borrow them," she told her.

"I know I can borrow them," Vala replied as if that should have been a given and Teyla laughed as they all made their way to Raildon Halls. They took all the bags to Elizabeth's and Teyla room before separating them out into whoever they belonged to. Laura took here three bags and she and Janet left for their room, Elizabeth took her two bags and began to put her knew belongings in their proper places.

Teyla looked at the large number of bags left on her bed for a brief moment and wondered where to begin. "Let me see the shoes," Vala requested and Teyla searched through the bags for the right one and then handed it to Vala before getting started on putting her other things away.

TBC


	15. Chapter 15

**Authors Note: Sorry about the wait for this, my aunt died over christmas and between that and christmas itself writing kinda got put to one side. I'll try and get the next few chapters up fairly quick along with the rest of my stuff. Hope you all enjoy. **

**lkhoward88 – **There will be some more Jack and Sam in the story but this is part of a series and most of the couples don't actually really take off until later instalments. Thanks for the review.

**Bunnylass – **Jack and John's conversation probably would have been funny, I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too. Thanks for the review.

**Steph7085 – **Thanks for the review, hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Saphiretwin369 – **You'll have to be patient for the more serious John and Elizabeth stuff, most of the couples don't really get into anything until later instalment of the series. It would be kinda unrealistic to have them all get together at the beginning lol. It will happen eventually though, I promise, in the meantime there are lots of little snippets of them. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Sparklyshimmer2010 – **I'm glad I'm keeping you all in suspense without the evil cliff hanger lol. I love Vala too and I kinda enjoy writing her in this. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Belanna30 – **Direction is coming, there's not a huge amount of storyline in this particular story though. It's the first in a series and it's mostly to set things up, there is some story line though and it will become more evident in the next few chapters. It all kind of centres around the defence teacher, Mathos. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Kuroima – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and the scene between Teyla and Vala. The more serious John and Liz stuff actually starts in the next instalment of the series but there's still some to come in this story too.

- - -

Chapter 15

"He's still staring at her," John whispered to Jack as they sat in defence class making sure neither of the girls could hear him. He and Jack had been keeping their eye on Mathos all lesson when they'd noticed his attention seemed to be fixated on Teyla just a little too much for their liking.

The girls at the front of the class seemed to be less than thrilled that they weren't getting as much attention form Mathos as they usually did. The blonde girl who's name John couldn't for the life of him remember had figured out where Mathos' attention had gone to and was shooting daggers back at Teyla. Fortunately both Teyla and Elizabeth were focusing on the mammoth essays they were writing and hadn't really noticed much was wrong. John didn't think their obliviousness would last much longer and he was a little more than grateful that the end of the lesson was approaching.

"If he keeps this up I swear I'm just gonna get up and knock some sense into him," Jack commented with a brief glance at the teacher who seemed to have momentarily turned his gaze to whatever was sitting on his desk.

It was last lesson on a Friday so as usual the last few minutes seemed to drag on forever but eventually Mathos dismissed them with a reminder that their essays were due in on Wednesday. The girls packed up their stuff quickly and waited for the two boys to do the same. Teyla it appeared had noticed Mathos' stare and she looked very uncomfortable all of a sudden.

Elizabeth seemed to have noticed it too and she stepped closer to Teyla gently nudging her toward the door. Jack and John took up positions on either side of them almost flanking them as they left the room.

"I'm not sure I can put up with that for the rest of the year," Teyla stated "And if I end up with him next year I may have to consider a transfer," she added humour lacing her tone but John got the impression that there was a level of seriousness behind it.

The more time went on the more John worried about Mathos, he knew Elizabeth was scared of him, so scared that she'd actually admitted to it and since she shared very little of herself with others it really set alarm bells off in his head. Teyla was obviously afraid of him and he'd learnt quickly that Teyla was not easily scared. Jack had been watching the man even more closely since he and Teyla had been kept behind for being late, something about that meeting had obviously concerned him.

"Don't let him get to you," Jack told her "Besides, we'll protect you, won't we John?" he told her jokingly though he meant it and John nodded his agreement.

"Damn right we will," John agreed and Teyla smiled slightly.

"My knights in shinning armour," she quipped and Jack stood straight looking proud with a quick nod of his head. Teyla finally seemed to relax and she and Elizabeth walked slightly in front of the guys.

"I don't like it," Jack whispered worriedly.

"Me neither," John replied.

- - -

Teyla watched in exasperation as Elizabeth laughed at something John had said and John seemed to be rather pleased with himself for gaining the reaction. She rolled her eyes and went back to her breakfast. Marcus, Janet and Jack were tormenting Laura with a photo taken of her on Jack's birthday. She had apparently tripped over and landed on some poor stranger.

Another person dropped into the chair beside her and she turned her head to see Teal'c. "Teyla," he greeted with a bow of his head.

"Teal'c," she replied in time for yet another new comer to sit opposite Teal'c. "Ronon," she acknowledged.

"Morning Teyla," he greeted sleepily and she guessed he'd been dragged out of bed in a similar manner to her unceremonious wake up call. She turned her head to glare at an oblivious Elizabeth who was now looking through photos from Jack's birthday along with John. Just because her room mate happened to be an early bird did not mean that she had to be as well. She couldn't even understand why Elizabeth got up so early when she didn't have to, the woman didn't like mornings any more than Teyla did.

"I'm going to get breakfast," Teal'c stated as he stood up again.

"Get me some," Ronon shouted as he folded his arms on the table and dropped his head into them.

"Why can't you get it yourself?" Teal'c questioned.

"Can't be bothered," was Ronon's muffled response and Teyla smiled as he continued to sit with his head in his arms. She had to admit, when she'd first met Ronon she wasn't all too sure about him but she'd quickly taken to him.

The sound of laughing from the other side of her caught her attention again and she turned to see John and Elizabeth laughing as they handed one of the pictures to Laura and Marcus who promptly burst into laughter as well. Laura's eyes darted to Teyla and when she realised Teyla was looking at her she quickly directed them elsewhere.

"What's on the picture?" she asked warily and when no one responded she made a grab for it. Marcus who was sitting next to her moved it out of her reach too quickly and she glared at him for a second. She was damn well going to find out what was on that picture.

She practically dived on Marcus, he tried to hold the picture up in the air but she was determined to reach it. Unfortunately Laura took the picture out of Marcus's hand and Teyla was forced to almost climb over the man to get it. She snatched it out of Laura's hand and dropped back into her seat with it. Marcus was busy trying to smooth down his appearance which had got pretty messed up in the scuffle and Teyla was sure she looked just as scruffy.

Teyla turned the picture over in her hand and her eyes widened, it was her, doing what looked like a pretty horrific version of the Can-can with a beer bottle in either hand and a drunken smile on her face. "Who took that?" she demanded trying not to let her embarrassment show.

The group remained quiet and she looked around her eyes finally landing on the almost innocent looking face of Jack O'Neill. "It was you," she said accusingly and Jack gave up his pretence of innocence with a shrug.

"Told you I'd get you back for tormenting me about the potions accident," he told her and Teyla kicked him under the table "Ow!"

Teal'c sat back down with two plates of food one of which he shoved at his friend whose head was still on the table. Ronon didn't move and Teyla looked at Teal'c who shrugged just before the sound of snoring came from the direction of Ronon's head. The man was unfortunately sat next to Jack though and her friend leaned down so he was fairly close to Ronon's ear. "Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep," he shouted quickly in a pretty lame imitation of an alarm clock.

Ronon's head snapped up and he looked around him trying to figure out what was going on before he realised and the group took a moment to laugh at him. Fortunately for him though the picture of her was still being circulated and Marcus had conspicuously taken it from the table beside her and passed it around her back to Teal'c just as Cameron, Daniel and Carson joined the group and sat on the next table.

She heard Teal'c snort next to her and made another grab for the picture as it was passed to Ronon. "I think you look cute," Ronon stated casually before tucking into his breakfast and allowing Cameron to take the picture.

Teyla closed her eyes and threw her head back, why did she have a feeling this was going to be a long weekend?

- - -

"Teyla, can I borrow those shoes tomorrow?" Vala asked as they entire group sat by the river.

"Vala those shoes have heals," Carson pointed out "We'll be in town for hours, your feet will be killing you before we even get there."

"No pain, no gain, I want to wear the jeans with the pink hem and those shoe's are perfect for them. Please Teyla?" she asked and Teyla nodded her head.

"Sure, I think I'm wearing my sneakers tomorrow anyway," she replied as she and Laura searched through their bags for the last of the snacks they'd brought down with them.

Elizabeth, Janet, Kate and Sam were sat slightly separate from the rest of the group doing research for Potions. Jack, John, Ronon and Cameron were playing football, Rodney and Radek were arguing as usual and the rest of the group were just enjoying the sunshine while they still had it.

"It's supposed to rain most of next week," Laura stated looking up at the currently cloudless sky.

"Goodbye summer," Carson said solemnly.

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to buy a new coat for winter," Vala stated.

"I thought you already had three," Daniel said questioningly.

"Yeah, one of which you only bought last week," Teyla added remembering the blue jacket with fluffy hood that had made Vala get a little over excited and buy, despite the fact that it had cost a fortune.

"Yeah but I don't have one to wear with my green pants, oh don't look at me like that, the blue one would clash," she told them all and then proceeded to sulk when everyone continued to look at her incredulously.

"We're going into town for dinner and a movie Vala, not to go shopping," Marcus reminded her.

"Yeah but it doesn't hurt to get a few of the essentials whilst I'm there otherwise I'll just end up having to drag one or more of you there with me again later in the week," she explained as she reached for one of the chocolate bars Teyla and Laura had unpacked. Teyla quickly slapped her hand away and grabbed the bar herself.

"That one's mine," she stated and ignored Vala's glare.

- - -

Teyla walked out of the bathroom in her pyjamas, gone were the thin materials and shorts she preferred to wear in summer to keep her cool. Now it was out with the thicker, warmer clothes, the nights were getting cold now. She padded across the room in her bare feet and put the clothes she had been wearing that day in the laundry basket.

Elizabeth was already in her bed, the covers pulled up to her chest as she leaned back against the head board, book in hand. After turning out the main light in the room leaving the lamps beside the bed to illuminate the room Teyla sat on her own bed pulling the cover around herself.

"He bothers you too right, I mean it's not just me?" Teyla asked and Elizabeth lowered her book and looked at Teyla trying to figure out what she was talking about, it didn't take her long.

Elizabeth sighed placing the book mark in her book before putting it on the shelf and sitting up to face Teyla. "He bothers me too, he worries me," she admitted and Teyla nodded feeling better that it wasn't just her.

"I knew Mathos was a creep right from the start but recently… he's really been bothering me," she explained.

"He does seem a little more… fixated on you," Elizabeth agreed.

"Do you think I should tell someone?" Teyla asked worriedly "I mean, technically he hasn't done anything wrong so no one can really do anything and people have complained about him before and nothing has ever been done."

"I don't know, if you tell someone then Mathos knows you won't put up with him and maybe he'll back off but it's your call," Elizabeth told her and Teyla had to think for a moment.

"I don't wanna cause trouble besides, he can't exactly do anything," Teyla rationalised and then sighed. She turned off her bedside light and laid down in her bed facing away from Elizabeth. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

Elizabeth stared at Teyla for a moment and bit her lip. Mathos was a teacher and that seemed to get him a level of respect that she was sure he didn't deserve. People seemed to think that because he was one of the teachers that, as much as he was a creep, there was a line he wouldn't cross with his students. However Elizabeth wasn't so sure, Mathos knew where the line was and he walked it well but if he really wanted to, if he really wanted something, she had a feeling he would be more than willing to cross it.

TBC


	16. Chapter 16

**Sparklyshimmer2010 – **All will be revealed, you just have to be patient lol and that goes for the sparky too, it could be a while. Other than that I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Bunnylass – **Thanks for the review and if you think Mathos is creepy now just wait lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Stargatefreak62 – **Wow, thank you. I'm glad you're enjoying the story so much. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Kuroima – **(returns hug) Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked Ronon 'cute' line and I hope you enjoy this chapter too.

**Saphiretwin369 – **I feel bad for Teyla too but things are really just greeting started for her. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**AthosionWarrior – **Thanks for the review.

**Steph7085 – **Ronon really isn't a morning person lol, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 16

John and Jack walked out of Beltry towers heading towards the cafeteria where they would hopefully find the rest of their group were late as well.

"It's not my fault my alarm didn't go off," Jack complained as they all but sprinted passed the main building.

"How about the ten minutes I spent knocking on the door?" John questioned incredulously.

"I was in the shower," Jack defended and John gave him an odd look before stopping abruptly. "What?"

"You've gotta be kidding me," John said and Jack followed his gaze to where their trouble causing Spell Casting class mates were stood in a circle around some poor student. Kolya pushed him and he fell backwards losing his footing and landing on the floor with a thud. Sora and Laden simply stood there as Kolya used a spell to set the young mans jacket on fire.

John and Jack ran towards them and John threw his hand out hoping that no teachers were watching. "Extinguo," he called and the flames were snuffed out before they could spread very far.

Kolya turned angry eyes on him for having spoilt his fun but neither Jack nor John were intimidated by them. They pushed passed Laden and Sora and helped the young student off the floor. "You alright?" Jack asked him ignoring Kolya and his minions.

"Er… yeah," the student replied shakily and Jack patted him on the back.

"You should go and get that Jacket changed," he said and the young man nodded and left.

"Who gave you the right to interfere?" Kolya spat out angrily.

"Who gave you the right to set people on fire?" John countered which only seemed to aggravate Kolya even more. He held out his hand preparing to do whatever he planned to do to John but Laden cut him off.

"Teacher," he shouted and Kolya quickly put his hand back down and John turned around to see Professor Niya walking passed.

"We'll be finishing this later," Kolya informed him through gritted teeth before he walked away with his minions in tow. Jack looked at John and shrugged before looking at his watch,

"Crap, now we're really late," he stated and the two of them took off for the cafeteria in a run. They arrived to find the rest of the group waiting for them and Teyla being the first to spot them sent them an annoyed look.

"Where the hell have you to been, we've been waiting here for half an hour," she told them attracting the attention of the rest of the group. "We were about to send a search party."

"Jack's alarm didn't go off this morning and then we had to stop Kolya setting someone on fire," John informed her and Teyla shook her head in exasperation before grabbing her purse and gesturing for everyone to follow. They jumped out of chairs and off tables grabbing whatever bags or jackets they had with them.

"Finally," Janet said as she walked passed them.

- - -

"My feet hurt," Vala complained for the fourth time earning sighs from the rest of the group.

"I did warn you about those shoes yesterday" Carson reminded her which only got him glared at.

"Yeah, no pain, no gain, remember," Marcus said and Vala started sulking. She was quiet for all of two minutes before she started complaining again.

"They really hurt," she stated and stopped walking. Cameron and Marcus stopped with her as the rest continued their walk into town. Vala removed her shoes and held them in her hand as she walked bare foot through the forest.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Marcus told her grimacing.

"Yeah Vala, who knows what's on the floor here," Cameron added looking at the path ahead of them. "We're only a few minutes away from town, surely you can wear them a little longer."

"Hurry up you guys," they heard Jack shout.

"No, I can't," Vala told him adamantly.

"Guys!" Janet shouted from up ahead as the rest of the group got further away.

"I'd rather risk standing on some sharp piece of glass than keep wearing them right now," she complained with a sulky expression. Cameron registered someone approaching and figured someone had come back to get them.

"I still don't think it's a good idea," Marcus pointed out.

"I don't…" Vala was cut off as Teal'c stepped in front of her and threw her over his shoulder. "Argh, put me down Teal'c," she demanded but the large man ignored her and turned to the two men.

"Can we go now?" he questioned and Cameron and Marcus nodded and watched as Teal'c carried a protesting Vala in the direction the rest of the group had gone. Marcus laughed and then ran to catch up with them leaving Cameron to shake his head before doing the same.

Vala had stopped protesting by the time they had reached town and was just hanging quietly over Teal'c shoulder. He put her down receiving a glare from her before she put her shoes back on.

"Alright," Marcus began "We have two hours before dinner so we should meet at the restaurant then."

"Okay," Vala said before he had even finished and she grabbed Teyla's arm dragging her off in the direction of the nearest store. Everyone watched as the two women disappeared around a corner and then went back to their conversation.

"Until then we should do whatever we need to," Marcus finished and the group began to split up and go in different directions. Elizabeth quietly wondered off on her own hoping her disappearance would go unnoticed. She didn't really have anywhere she needed to go so for the next two hours she had nothing to do.

She walked down a quiet street and found a small, empty park at the end. She pushed open the large metal gate with a creak and headed over to the swings. She sat down and pushed backward before taking her feet off the floor and allowing herself to swing back and forth. Being at Pegasus had changed so much but in a way it hadn't changed anything at all. She had these people who she knew were her friends and wanted nothing from her but she still couldn't let them in, she still felt the need to isolate herself from them and everyone else.

She'd been at Pegasus for well over a month now and it hadn't been anything like she had been expecting it to be. She'd never imagined when she had first arrived that she would end up with so many friends, that she would enjoy being here as much as she did.

"What are you doing here by yourself?" John's voice interrupted her thoughts; she didn't even know how long she'd been sitting there.

"Just thinking," she told him as though it was nothing.

He sat down on the swing beside her "We came here with fifteen other people and you somehow manage to end up wondering off on your own."

"Well, what about you?" she asked evasively "You're on your own."

"Just left Jack and Cameron in the clutches of Teyla and Vala, barely made it out alive," he told her and she nodded her head slowly. Looking down at her watch she realised to her astonishment that she'd actually been swinging away for over half an hour. "So anyway, a little birdie told me it's your birthday in a couple of weeks."

"Did this birdie happen to be called Teyla?" she questioned quietly as she stared at the floor.

"It might have," he replied "So what do you want?"

"What?" Elizabeth asked looking up at him.

"Birthday present, what do you want," he asked again and Elizabeth opened and closed her mouth before shaking her head.

"I don't need anything," she told him and he smiled in amusement.

"I didn't ask you what you needed, I asked you what you wanted," he informed her and she shook her head again.

"I don't know," she stated, she really hadn't even thought about it. Birthday presents for her were usually limited to one cheap gift that her father had sent one of his servants to pick for him.

"Well you'd better come up with a list because I have it on good authority that Jack, Teyla and several other people are planning on interrogating you about it soon," he told her.

- - -

"That was so not my fault," Kate stated defensively and Daniel and Carson could only laugh at her in response.

"That poor girl had no idea what was going on," Daniel continued "One minute she was trying to do the spell herself and the next she was covered in water."

"So the spell went a little wrong, it happens to the best of us," she told them and there were several laughs around the table. Jack sent Teyla a warning glare when it looked like she was about to relive the story of Jack's failed potions lesson. She laughed to herself but much to his relief kept her mouth shut.

Jack looked up when the door opened and three more members of their group arrived. Laura, Janet and Sam all took their seat at the table the group had reserved for dinner. With such a large group it had become kinda necessary to make the reservation several days in advance. That just left Teal'c, Ronon, John and Elizabeth still to arrive.

The waitress was watching the table trying to figure out if they were ready to order yet but the still empty seats gave away that not all of the group had arrived yet. "What did we miss?" Sam questioned as she took off her jacket and placed it over the back of her chair.

"A very amusing story about Kate trying to drown her classmates," Teyla informed her.

"It was an accident," Kate defended sounding rather exasperated.

The door to the restaurant opened again to reveal Teal'c and Ronon which left only Elizabeth and John. Teyla looked over at Jack with an amused smile on her face that they were the only two still missing.

"Only Elizabeth and John to go," Kate stated.

"Yeah, John's probably still hiding, he managed to escape when we tried to rope him into helping us shop," Vala explained laughing.

"Come to think of it, has anyone seen Elizabeth since we got here?" Sam asked and it dawned on the group that none of them had actually been with Elizabeth. Most of them shrugged it off but Teyla once again looked at Jack, this time there was no amusement in his friends face.

"She was on her own?" she asked quietly and Jack nodded.

"Sounds like it," he replied just as quietly so the rest of the group wouldn't hear them.

"I didn't even realise," Teyla said "This excluding herself from the group thing has got to stop."

"Try telling her that," Jack stated and then at the look on Teyla's face added "I meant that as a figure of speech Teyla."

When the door opened again John walked in and held it open for Elizabeth as she too entered the building. They walked over to the table sitting on the two free chairs at the end. "Nice of you to join us," Janet told them.

John picked up one of the menus that were laying about the table and handed it to Elizabeth before grabbing another one for himself. A few moments later the waitress came over with her pen and paper. "Are you ready to order?"

"Yep," Jack said without checking, everyone had looked through the menu as soon as they arrived which only left John and Elizabeth on the end deciding. They went around the table ordering their meals, John and Elizabeth went last to give them more time to decide. The poor waitress had to use three pieces of paper to write down all their orders but she eventually left and the group went back to their previous conversation.

TBC


	17. Chapter 17

**Saphiretwin369 – **Teal'c carrying Vala just seemed like something he'd do and I couldn't get the scene out of my head lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Sparklyshimmer2010 – **I didn't think you would be patient lo. The first instalment is written to the end though and there's no establishing of Sparky I'm afraid. I do have the second part planned though and I think it'll be worth the wait, the long wait lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Belanna30 – **It's so hard to not establish Sparky like I usually do but that doesn't happen until the second story in the series. You're right though, Elizabeth isn't ready for it yet and I don't want to rush all the relationships, wouldn't be realistic lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Tucker – **Thanks for the review and there is a little more Carson later in the story.

**Steph7085 – **I'm glad you enjoyed the John and Liz scene and I hope you enjoy this chapter too, thanks for the review.

**AthosionWarrior – **Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Bunnylass – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like the friendship between Jack and Teyla because I really enjoy writing it. The scene with Teal'c made me laugh so I thought I'd put it in there. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Kuroima – **Teal'c carrying Vala made me laugh too and I'm glad you liked it. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

- - -

Chapter 17

"Rodney I think you're putting too much of that in there," Sam heard Radeky say next to her and turned away from her own experiment just in time to see the explosion. She jumped back slightly and stared wide eyed at the smoking lab beaker sitting in front of her friends. She finally managed to drag her eyes away from the beaker and onto her friends whose previously pale skin was now covered in what she was fairly sure was black ash.

Looking down at her own clothes she realised that she hadn't escaped unscathed either. The lab coat had protected most of her clothes but the jacket she was wearing underneath had been peaking out and was most defiantly ruined. Radek slowly turned his head to Rodney with a glare coming through the protective glasses; it was the only part of his face not covered in ash. He didn't need to say anything, the look did it all for him.

"What happened?" Trel asked in annoyance.

"Rodney added too much Kralis blood," Radek spat out angrily.

"I did not," Rodney tried to protest even though he knew the explosion had been his fault.

"Both of you clean up this mess and then get yourselves cleaned up, Miss Carter, finish your potion with your partner and then you should clean yourself up as well," Trel instructed.

"Yes sir," Sam nodded and then turned back to the potion in front of her. She could hear Radek cursing and Rodney mumbling beside her as she added the Kralis blood to her own potion. Her partner added the final ingredients and the solution turned purple as it was supposed to.

"I'll clean up," her partner told her and Sam nodded gratefully and headed for the exit. She took off the white coat and her goggles putting them both in the basket by the door as she left.

The girls bathroom was only down the hall so she went there first to get the ash off her skin. Walking in, the mirror was right in front of her and she could see the mess Rodney had made. The collar and the top part of her blue jacket were now black, her neck and part of her face and hands were black as well.

She sighed as she turned the tap on and washed the ash off her hands first before turning her attention to her neck and face. It took a while but she managed to clean it all off, the scrubbing leaving red marks on her skin instead. All that was left now was her jacket which she was going to have to change. She walked out of the girl's bathroom only to see Radek and Rodney heading towards the men's room.

"Sam, I am very sorry," Radek told her and she smiled.

"It's alright Radek, it wasn't your fault," she said looking pointedly at Rodney "I heard you warn him he was putting too much in."

"I was not, it had to have been something else," Rodney tried to argue.

"Rodney you messed up, happens to the best of us, now deal with it," she told him and then left the two men bickering behind her.

- - -

It was raining when John and Elizabeth left the cafeteria to find Jack and Teyla in their potions lesson. Phys Ed was cancelled and there was no point their two friends making the trek over to the gym building.

Elizabeth held her head down as they ran through the rain and John opened the door of the main building to let her in before he followed her. They both shrugged off the water wondering how they could have got so wet in just a few seconds. "Man, its cold," he stated.

"John," a voice called and Elizabeth watched John grimace as he turned to the owner.

"Chaya, what can I do for you?" he asked as though he'd rather be somewhere else, anywhere else.

"Just came to see if you're up for getting dinner this weekend," she told him sending an odd look Elizabeth's way.

"I told you last week Chaya, I don't think it's a good idea," he reminded her and Chaya looked rather surprised.

"Seriously John, I would have though you'd have come to your senses by now," she stated and Elizabeth felt like this was one of those moments she shouldn't be intruding on, especially when Chaya sent a rather annoyed look in her direction.

"John, I'll just meet you there," she told him rather quietly as though she feared talking would be as much an intrusion as her presence.

"No, its fine Elizabeth," he replied and she nodded her head and took a step back away from the conversation. "I'm not interested Chaya, there was a reason I broke up with you, I'm not going to make the mistake of going out with you again."

John put a hand on Elizabeth's back in a silent gesture for them to move on and she went without protest. Chaya continued to glare at her as she walked passed and Elizabeth glanced over her shoulder to find the woman was still glaring at her back.

"Sorry about that," John said and Elizabeth shrugged.

"You don't need to apologise but… if you don't mind me asking…" she trailed of and John smiled as they stopped outside the potions lab where Jack and Teyla were currently in lesson.

"Chaya Sar, my ex girlfriend," he answered her unvoiced question. "She's the daughter of the Governor of Proculus and a selfish, manipulative brat, hence my breaking up with her in high school."

"So that's your type?" she questioned humorously but for some reason she couldn't figure out, she actually wanted to know the answer.

"Used to be," he told her and before she could question him any further the classroom door opened and students began pouring out. Jack and Teyla were among the first, both of them looking bored.

"What are you two doing here?" Jack asked.

"Phys Ed's been cancelled," John informed him and Jack seemed to do a mini celebration. "Holman and Greyler are on a training course for the next two days."

"Hear that Teyla, we got a three hour dinner," Jack informed her "and you and Elizabeth have a two hour dinner," he added turning to John.

"Is it raining outside?" Teyla asked as she noticed they were both wet.

"It's throwing it down," John told her "We were only in it a few seconds."

"That's great, goodbye summer."

- - -

As usual Elizabeth was sitting next to John at lunch, the rest of the group had arrived and they were actually taking up two tables now. Teyla watched Elizabeth smile at something John said and John laughed at whatever reply Elizabeth had given him. She couldn't really hear their conversation over the noise.

"Alright, I'm going to get snacks," Teyla stated "Elizabeth, you can come with me."

"What?" Elizabeth asked.

"Come on," Teyla instructed as she weaved her way out of the group and waited for Elizabeth to do the same. "You know, it's kinda getting old now," she told her friend who looked completely clueless as to what she was talking about. "Just ask him out already," Teyla instructed her in exasperation.

"Ask who out?" Elizabeth questioned and the complete and genuine obliviousness to the question only made Teyla sigh.

"John, ask John out," she clarified "You very obviously like him and he very obviously likes you, stop with the looks and just ask him out already."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Elizabeth stated and Teyla resisted the urge to hit her head against a wall.

"Yes you do," she said pointedly.

"No, I really don't and even if I did, I don't think it's as simple as just walking up to someone and asking them out," Elizabeth told her and Teyla felt that urge to bash her head into a wall getting stronger.

"It _is_ that simple," Teyla argued receiving an incredulous look from Elizabeth in response.

"I'd like to see you do it," she challenged.

"You think I can't?" she questioned and Elizabeth met her eyes.

"I think you can't," she told her and Teyla turned around determined to prove her wrong. She looked over her choices and decided to go for the one she felt at least a little bit attracted to; well maybe more than a little, he was good looking after all. She walked over to him; thankfully he was on the end of the group.

"Ronon," she called and the dreadlock wearing man turned to look at her. "Want to take me to dinner?"

"Sure, why not," Ronon replied and Teyla smiled slightly.

"Good, Saturday work for you?" she asked and Ronon nodded.

"Yeah," he said turning back to his conversation and Teyla walked back over to Elizabeth.

"See," she said and Elizabeth shook her head.

"Fine, well done but that doesn't mean I should ask John out, I don't like him that way," Elizabeth stated and then walked back over to the group leaving Teyla to sigh and throw her arms up in defeat.

Deciding to go and get the books she would need for her afternoon lessons before it started raining again she left the cafeteria and headed toward the dorms. She was almost run over by a group of students she was fairly sure were drunk, hopefully they'd get caught by the teachers. She reached her dorm and made quick work of ridding herself of her morning's book and the unused gym kit, replacing them with those she would need for the afternoon.

She was almost back at the cafeteria when Mathos stopped her "Miss Emmagan."

She groaned inwardly but pasted on a smile "Professor."

"I wanted to talk to you about your seat in defence lessons," he began and the feeling she had that she wasn't going to like this was confirmed "You have a lot of potential Miss Emmagan; I would hate to see it wasted because of the company you keep."

"Sir?" she questioned, if he was about to insult her friends she would be really mad.

"Mr Sheppard and Mr O'Neill are not exactly the most focused of students and Miss Weir I think humours them far too much, it would be an awful shame for you to fall into the same trap. I think it would be in your best interest to move away from them, perhaps sit closer to the front," he suggested and Teyla swallowed back the response that while completely true would most likely land her in detention with him at the very least.

"Thank you for your concern Professor but I don't think moving will be necessary. Jack and John may not be the most focused students but they know when to work and neither of them bothers me or Elizabeth to the point where it interrupts our learning. Even if they tried, Elizabeth and I have too much focus, especially Elizabeth," she informed him curtly.

"Very well," he said though she had a feeling that wasn't going to be the end of that conversation.

"Good day Professor," she finished as she turned and walked away trying not to react to the eyes she could feel burning into her back as he watched her leave.

When she arrived back in the cafeteria she took her chair next to Jack who gave her a concerned look. "You alright?" he asked her and she nodded her head.

"I'm fine," she replied with a smile as she shook the experience out of her head.

Jack looked at her suspiciously for a moment before he let the matter drop "Okay, so what's this about you going on a date with Ronon?"

TBC


	18. Chapter 18

**Authors Note: I'm sorry about taking so long to post, I lost my internet but I'm back online now. This story is finished so updates should be fairly quick. Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me.**

**Saphiretwin369 – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the scene with Teyla asking out Ronon. I've finished writing this first story now and its twenty eight chapters long. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph7085 – **I'm glad you liked the scene with Teyla asking out Ronon so much, it was my favourite in the last chapter. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Sparklyshimmer2010 – **You must wait because I am slightly evil lol, I promise more Sparky in the next instalment to make up for it. I hate Mathos too and I'm the one that created him. Thanks for the review.

**Bunnylass – **Thanks for the review, Teyla asking Ronon out was my favourite part of the last chapter so I'm glad you liked it. Mathos is becoming creepy isn't he lol.

**Belanna30 – **You'll have to wait a little longer for Jack and John's thoughts on Ronon and Teyla's date; I think that's in the next chapter though. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Kuroima – **(helps kick Mathos and Chaya out) Thanks for the review, lots of Sparky in the second instalment of this AU, I promise. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Talz89 – **John and Elizabeth got the name Sparky during someone's random chat online and it just kind of stuck, don't worry, it took me a little while to learn that too. I'm glad you gave my story a chance and liked it. I hadn't had plans to bring Lam in but I'll see what I can do, the first instalment is already finished but I'll try and bring her into the second. Thanks for the review.

**Jammeke – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you found this story and that you enjoy my AU's. As for it being a Shweir fic, of course, what else would it be lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 18

Teyla listened to Mathos, making notes as he explained their projects to them. They had to choose one of the two types of Defence they had begun studying so far and do an entire project on it.

"You'll be working in pairs, whether you choose Charms or Spells is entirely up to you but I urge you to make your choice carefully. This project counts for fifteen percent of your final year 1 grade and that can be the difference between a pass and a fail," Mathos continued and Teyla noted down the percentage on the paper in front of her.

Elizabeth's paper looked similar to Teyla's and even John and Jack had made some rather detailed notes. The two men seemed to actually be giving their undivided attention to the lesson, which was rather unusual.

"The projects will be due in on the third of December, so you have about two months to do them. As such I expect some very comprehensive projects; the library has plenty of information so there are really no excuses for not completing the project. You have the rest of the lesson to decide which topic you wish to do and gather information from the text books," Mathos finally finished and Teyla made her last few notes before grabbing the text book.

"Who's pairing with who?" Jack asked immediately as he dropped his pen on the desk.

"We should figure out who wants to do what first," Elizabeth mused and Teyla nodded her head in agreement.

"I think I'll do spells," she stated thoughtfully "I can probably do a better job of that than charms."

"Well I'm doing charms," Elizabeth told her as she found the necessary section of her text book. "What about you two?" she asked and John and Jack both shrugged.

"I got a pretty decent grade for my charms as a defence essay, maybe I should do that," John mused with another shrug "So, partners?" he asked.

"Sure," Elizabeth replied.

"Charms it is then," he announced as he made the surprising move of opening his text book and turning to the charms section, apparently he was actually going to work.

"Guess I'll do spells with Teyla then, I'm better at that anyway," Jack informed them and with his decision made reached for his text book.

Elizabeth gave Teyla a surprised look when their two friends sat quietly and made notes. They should have known it wouldn't last though, Jack and John started whispering to each other and the number of notes being made decreased. They didn't bother the two girls much though and despite their ongoing conversation they did continue to do at least some work.

"Let's just hope we don't regret ending up paired up with them," Teyla whispered to Elizabeth humorously as Mathos came to a stop in front of them.

"Okay, what are our choices?" he asked.

"John and I are doing charms," Elizabeth informed him and Mathos wrote it down on his clipboard before looking at Teyla.

"I'm doing spells with Jack," she stated and pretended not to see the disapproving look he gave her. Jack however seemed to see it and sent Mathos an annoyed and outraged look in return which fortunately went unnoticed by the Professor.

When the lesson finally ended they packed away their things and headed for the door and their final lesson of the week. "Miss Emmagan," Mathos called and Teyla winced before turning around, "May I have a word with you?"

She looked at the others who all nodded "We'll wait for you outside," John seemed to make a point of saying and Teyla nodded as she watched them leave the room and the door closed behind them.

"Professor?" she questioned.

"I want to ask you again to consider moving further forward in the class," he told her and Teyla tried not to sigh "We'll be devoting some class time to these projects and I wouldn't want you to get a low grade because you were unable to work in the time given to you. I also don't think it's a good idea for you to work with Mr O'Neill, it would be a shame if you were forced to do the majority of the work alone."

"Really Professor, it isn't necessary," she stated but Mathos wasn't ready to give up just yet.

"I saw Mr Sheppard and Mr O'Neill talking during class today; I also saw them distract you from your work several times. I understand you being loyal to your friends but not at the expense of your education," he informed her and Teyla took a deep breath, she was not going to hit him.

"Neither Jack or John adversely affect my education, they're my friends and I much prefer spending my lessons with them than anyone else in the class," she replied with a small smile. "Is there anything else, I wouldn't want to be late for History of Magic," she questioned and Mathos smiled slightly which only served to make her feel more uncomfortable in his presence.

"No that's all Miss Emmagan, you may go," he said and she thanked him and left the room. The others were still waiting outside the class room for her. Elizabeth was sitting on the window ledge with John stood close by and Jack was standing right next to the door.

"What did he want?" Jack asked and Teyla decided she'd better tell them.

"He wants me to move further forward in the classroom," she told them.

"Like hell," Jack stated and Teyla nodded.

"I told him it wasn't necessary," she informed them all.

"Did he say why he wanted you to move forward?" Elizabeth questioned from where she was still sitting on the window ledge.

"He thinks that sitting with you will have a negative affect on my education. That the two of you distract me," she said gesturing to Jack and John who looked both outraged and slightly guilty. "And that you humour them too much," she added with a nod toward Elizabeth.

"Well then," John began "We'll just have to be sure to pay more attention in Defence, that way he'll have no excuse to move you."

Teyla could only nod her head as John took Elizabeth's hand to help her jump down from the window ledge. "We should get going."

- - -

With the school week over the group were able to relax. Jack, John and Laura had taken to making jokes about Teyla going on a date to which she either glared or smacked them over the head for. Ronon was sitting with the group now though so the joking seemed to have died down.

"Rodney don't!" Sam shouted across the table and Rodney stopped his movements. His mouth wide open and his chicken sandwich half way to his mouth. Sam let out a breath of relief "That's lemon chicken," she told him and he immediately dropped the sandwich on his plate and stared at it fearfully.

"But, but, they didn't say it was lemon," he stuttered and Teal'c who was sitting next to him picked up the sandwich and examined it before putting it back on the plate.

"It is indeed, lemon chicken," he stated and Rodney pushed the plate away from him. Daniel swapped plates with him leaving Rodney with the far less deadly burger and ate the chicken sandwich himself.

"Well Sam, I do believe you just saved Rodney's life," Radek said with a small smile.

"You can all hate me later," she replied earning several laughs and a glare from Rodney.

"Excuse me, John," Chaya called as she approached the table and John threw his head back with a groan, she just wouldn't leave him alone. Chaya finally made it through the crowds of students and stood at the end of one of the two tables the group had pushed together.

"What do you want Chaya?" he asked in annoyance, no longer having the energy to be polite with her anymore.

"Now that's no way to greet your…" she began indignantly but John cut her off.

"Chaya, what do you want?" he asked a little more patiently and she seemed to be sufficiently placated for now.

"I'm going into town tomorrow and was just wondering if you'd like to join me, we can stop for dinner," she informed him and John reigned in his annoyance again, she was nothing if not persistent.

"Chaya, I told you, I'm not interested," he stated and then turned to look at Jack. "Wanna get cake?" he asked. Jack seemed to understand the question for what it was and nodded his head. The two of them stood up and left the table heading toward the cafeteria queue and allowing John to escape from the conversation.

"She is persistent isn't she?" Jack questioned rhetorically as they joined the back of the queue.

"You haven't seen anything yet," John told him. He'd seen first hand how persistent she could be. In high school, there'd been another student who'd had a thing for her but Chaya thought he was beneath her. He'd been more persistent when John had broken up with Chaya, the young lad had seen that as his chance and made a few romantic gestures to the brunette. She'd been embarrassed by the 'nerd' and when her own persistence at making his life hell hadn't worked, she had her father use his influence over the school board to have him kicked out.

They got their cake and when they returned to the table Chaya had gone. Vala was teasing Rodney with her own chicken sandwich. Cameron spent a few minutes laughing at him before telling Vala it was enough and she put the sandwich down.

- - -

Teyla left her room to go and get something from the cafeteria before it closed for the day. Elizabeth was hard at work doing her History homework and rather than disturb her Teyla decided just to get her something as well. She looked up as she passed by the main building, the sky was grey and she was sure it was going to start raining soon so she picked up her pace.

"Are you Teyla Emmagan?" a young woman questioned her as she approached and Teyla stopped and turned to her.

"I am," she replied.

"Listen, I er… I know that Professor Mathos seems to have taken a special interest in you," the girl began to explain which took Teyla by surprise.

"Where did you hear that?" she asked, neither denying nor confirming the girl's words.

"My younger sister is in your Defence class," she told her.

"Look," Teyla began wanting to get out of this conversation, she had a feeling she wouldn't like where it was going. "I have to get to the cafeteria before it closes."

"Just wait a second," the girl cut in when Teyla tried to leave, she grabbed her arm and Teyla reluctantly turned back to her. "I was you, okay. Mathos took a special interest in me when I was a year 1. I never told anyone because technically he never did anything wrong. Things nearly got out of hand and I was lucky, I finally put in a complaint against him and even though he got away with it because there was no evidence, I wasn't put in his class again."

"Why are you telling me this?" Teyla asked.

"I'm just giving you a warning… be careful," she said and then turned to leave without another word. Teyla watched her go feeling more than a little shook up. Had Mathos taken a special interest in her? What did she mean, things nearly got out of hand and she was lucky?

Teyla let her brain tumble the thoughts around before shaking them out. Mathos hadn't done anything to suggest he had any sinister motives and while she knew he'd taken an interest in her, it didn't seem to be much above and beyond the interest he had in many of the other students. She was letting herself get carried away, she only had a few minutes before the cafeteria closed and then she had homework to do.

She only just made it to the cafeteria in time to by some drinks and snacks and then headed back to her room. It started raining just before she got into Raildon Halls but thankfully she made it inside before the torrential downpour began.

Elizabeth was still at her desk when she got back to the room and Teyla placed the drink she'd got for her on the desk beside her before dropping the rest of the stuff on her bed. She sat down next to it and grabbed a bar of chocolate as she picked up the History book she'd left on her bed.

Finally looking up from her homework Elizabeth thanked her and picked up the soda. She turned around on her chair to look at Teyla and the masses of snacks in front of her. Teyla located what she knew was Elizabeth's favourite chocolate and tossed it to her.

"Are you alright?" Elizabeth asked her "You look… I don't know, like you've seen a ghost or something."

"I'm fine," Teyla told her and Elizabeth looked at her disbelievingly for a moment before she seemed to let the matter drop.

TBC


	19. Chapter 19

**Saphiretwin369 – **Thanks for the review, the Mathos thing is only gonna get worse from here. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Sparklyshimmer2010 – **I'm glad you liked the lemon chicken thing and you'll see what Mathos is up to soon. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Steph7085 – **Glad you liked the subtle sparky and as for Mathos, you'll have to wait and see, thanks for the review.

**Jammeke – **Lots of Teyla and Ronon in this chapter for you so I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for the review!

**Bunnylass – **Wait no longer for the date and running from Mathos would be a good idea. As for Jack and Sam, there is a little more in this story but they don't get together until the second one. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Belanna30 – **I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter, hope you enjoy this one too.

**Kuroima – **And you should be worried about Teyla lol, glad you liked the part with the group and thanks for the review.

- - -

Chapter 19

"Mr Dex."

"Mr O'Neill"

The two men stared at each other for several moments as though they were sizing each other up. They both came to the conclusion that Ronon would win hands down but if Jack was angry enough he could cause some serious damage.

"So?"

"So."

"Where are you taking her?" Jack asked

" A restaurant."

"Is this restaurant dimly lit?"

"No, it's very well lit."

"How close together are the chairs?"

"Opposite sides of the table, there's plenty of space in between them."

"Are you planning to take her into any dark places?"

"None."

"What do you plan to be drinking?"

"Whatever Teyla chooses to drink," Ronon replied answering all of Jacks' questions as they stood in his room. Ronon looked through his wardrobe, trying to find the black shirt he wanted to wear, he really need to tidy this thing up.

"How many other people will be around?"

"Except for the walk through the forest, plenty at all times."

"Do you plan to be stopping at any point in the forest?"

"No."

"What time do you plan to be back?"

"I don't know," he answered locating the black shirt he'd been searching for and pulling it out from the mess of clothes. "Jack, I'll take care of her," he stated hoping to end the questioning so he could usher the man out of his room and get changed.

"You'd better do," Jack stated "I mean it, I expect you to be the perfect gentleman at all times."

"I plan to be," Ronon told him.

"And you'd better have her back by curfew, no later than 9.30," the smaller man continued.

"Curfew isn't until 10.30."

"I don't care when the school curfew is, you be back here by 9.30," Jack carried on and Ronon found his good jeans and tossed them over to where the shirt had landed on his bed. "And if you hurt her or upset her in anyway, so help me, I will kick your ass."

Ronon stood up to his full height, staring down at Jack incredulously, strangely he didn't seem to be slightly put off by Ronon's far more intimidating size.

"Oh, you can puff out your chest and look as big and scary as you want, I'll still kick your ass if you hurt her," Jack informed him and Ronon nodded feeling a small amount of respect for the man as he continued searching for the clothes he wanted, the jacket was in there somewhere.

"Now, if we have an understanding…" Jack began.

"We do," Ronon cut in before allowing Jack to continue.

"Than I'll be on my way," Jack told him and Ronon waved him off as he continued to search the mass of clothes at the bottom of his wardrobe. He heard the tell tale signs of the door opening and closing and pulled his head of the wardrobe, sitting on the floor in front of it. Damn it, that leather jacket was around here somewhere.

- - -

There was a knock on her door and Sam walked across the room to answer it. Daniel stood there waiting for her and she stepped back to let him in. "You coming to get something to eat, we're trying to prevent Jack form giving Ronon anymore warning speeches. Cake is always a good way to distract him," Daniel told her and she laughed as she moved to grab her purse.

"Sure, I'll come with you," she replied.

"This was on your door," he told her as he handed her an envelope with her name on it. "I do believe that's your father's handwriting."

Sam nodded as she opened the letter and read through it. "He's complaining about the new member of the Alteran City Council, says he's a close minded arrogant jerk."

"I suppose dealing with people like that would be the downside to your father's job. The upside being that as a member of the council his opinions at least get heard," Daniel stated.

"Even if they're not listened to," Sam added "He's complaining about that too."

"Guess he really needed to vent," Daniel told her and they both shared a laugh over that.

"He said to say hi to Mark and to you and he's looking forward to seeing us," Sam finished as she folded up the paper and put it back in the envelope. She placed it on her desk to reply to later.

Daniel was already waiting by the door and he held it open for her as they left. "Have you actually spoken to Mark in the entire time you've been here?" he asked her and she sighed.

"Once or twice, he's not really interested in socialising with his little sister," she told him "He's been acting strange with me since mom died and he barely even talks to dad anymore, I know he very rarely responds to his letters."

"Losing a parent can't be easy," Daniel said as he put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's been over a year," Sam reminded him with a bit of her annoyance at her brother sneaking into her voice. "And he doesn't need to shut me and dad out. He's my older brother, he should be helping me not abandoning me."

"He'll deal with it in his own time and he'll come around sooner or later," Daniel told her and she let out another sigh.

"I think I could do with that cake," she stated and then shook the conversation off "Have you heard from your family recently?"

"Got a letter from mom and dad a few days ago, they hope I'm doing okay, told me to say hi to you," he told her with a shrug.

"Well, tell them I said hi back," Sam replied and she linked her arm with Daniel as they left Entrix Towers.

- - -

"Teyla calm down," Elizabeth instructed as her friend seemed to have a nervous breakdown in the middle of their dorm room. Her hair was still damp from the shower and she was walking around in her blue bathrobe. "It's just a dress."

Elizabeth winced even as the words left her mouth and Teyla looked at her in outrage. "That dress was expensive!" she all but shouted and Elizabeth grabbed her arms to stop her from pacing anymore.

"Look," she said guiding her over to the dressing table and forcing her to sit in the chair. "Why don't you get started on your hair and I'll find the dress for you, I'm sure it's in your wardrobe somewhere."

Teyla had less than half an hour until her date and her biggest worry was that her favourite dress was missing. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes at the overly dramatic sigh Teyla gave her, Elizabeth walked over to Teyla's open wardrobe. She picked up some of the clothes and shoes that had been tossed all over the place in Teyla's desperate search for her ridiculously expensive dress.

She put them to the side so they were out of the way and began to work her way through Teyla's clothes. Her first thought was that Teyla needed a bigger wardrobe and perhaps she should offer her some of the space in hers. She went through all of the clothes that were hanging before moving to the folded clothes at the bottom.

"Ah ha," she said pulling the blue fabric out of the pile and holding it up where Teyla could see it "Is this it?" she asked and Teyla came running over and grabbed the dress out of her hand.

"Yes!" She exclaimed and then dropped to her knees beside Elizabeth throwing her arms around her and squeezing her. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you," she said really quickly before jumping and running into the bathroom. The door closed behind her and Elizabeth was left to stare after her for a moment before she stood up.

There was less than ten minutes now but thankfully Teyla had managed to get her hair done while Elizabeth had been searching for the dress. It was only a few minutes before Teyla walked back out of the bathroom having changed. The tight fitted dress reached almost to her knees, it was split part way up the sides and had a few shades of blue mixed together and the occasional gold pattern on it. Part of her hair was tied back leaving the lower half to fall around her shoulder and all in all, she looked far more prepared for her date than she had done twenty minutes ago.

Teyla sat down at the dresser and got to work on her make up. "Could you pass me those boots please?" she asked and Elizabeth handed her the requested items. Teyla finished with her make up and pulled on the boots before standing up. "How do I look?"

"You look great," Elizabeth replied as Teyla reached for her jacket.

- - -

The restaurant was fairly close to the edge of town so thankfully it hadn't taken long to get there. A dress and a small jacket may have made her look good but they were lousy at keeping her warm.

Ronon held her chair out for her, allowing her to sit down before he took his own seat. "This is nice," she stated looking around.

"Just be sure to tell Jack that I was a perfect gentleman," Ronon told her and she smiled in amusement.

"How many times did he give you the speech?" she asked.

"Thankfully only once," he told her and Teyla looked slightly surprised.

"He told me he planned to tell you at least a hundred times," she informed him and Ronon smiled slightly at her. Teyla decided he had definitely been a good choice for this date.

"I'm sure he planned to but I think the others distracted him with cake," he explained and Teyla nodded her head in understanding, cake would have done the trick.

She looked through the menu deciding what she wanted just in time for the waitress to come over and take their orders. "So," Ronon began curiously "Why did you ask me?"

Oh that, she'd almost forgotten why she'd asked him in the first place.

"I'm guessing there was a reason for it, you don't seem like the type who usually asks the guy," he told her and she looked slightly outraged by the comment to which Ronon only laughed "Not in a bad way. You're a romantic; you want the guy to ask you."

How the hell did he know that? she questioned in her own head but didn't voice it. "I was making a point to Elizabeth," she replied.

"Well since you're just using me, do I get to know what the point was?" he asked humorously and Teyla shrugged.

"I told her to ask John out before the two of them drive me insane and she said it's not that simple. I told her it was and she said that I wouldn't be able to just ask someone out anymore than she could," Teyla explained.

"So to prove her wrong you asked me," he finished "Why me?" he continued and Teyla knew he was teasing her now but she refused to let him win, she would not let him embarrass her.

"You were the best looking," she stated matter of factly and he laughed again before letting it go, much to her relief since she was in fact feeling the slightest bit of embarrassment now. "So Elizabeth and John huh?... I see what you mean."

"They'll deny it to their dieing breaths though, even to themselves," she stated in exasperation.

"And you thought you'd play matchmaker?" he questioned.

"It's for their own good."

Dinner was great and surprisingly the conversation never went dead, there were no awkward silences and Teyla genuinely enjoyed every minute of it. The walk back to school had never seemed to go so quick and they arrived in time for the school's curfew but were way late for Jack's.

He walked her to the entrance of her dorm building "This was fun," he told her and she nodded her head, feeling unusually shy. "We should do it again," he stated and Teyla smiled.

"Yeah we should," she replied. He leaned down and kissed her cheek before saying 'goodnight' and heading to his own dorm building. Teyla turned and walking into Raildon Halls, going up the stairs and to her room where Elizabeth was in her bed reading.

"Hey you, you missed Jack's deadline, he was not pleased," Elizabeth informed her and she dropped on her bed.

"I'm sure he'll get over it, Ronon was a perfect gentleman all evening," Teyla replied as she took off her boots.

"I take it you enjoyed yourself," Elizabeth stated and Teyla found herself smiling again.

"Yeah, I really did," she told her "Dinner was great and he was great and it was just great. He said we should do it again."

Elizabeth gave her a look and Teyla started laughing as she went to find her pyjamas. She noticed then that all her clothes and shoes that she'd tossed all over the room had been tidied away and she looked over to Elizabeth.

"Did you tidy up my mess?" she asked lovingly and Elizabeth nodded. Teyla crossed the room and gave her a slightly less enthusiastic hug than the one she'd given her earlier.

"You're great you know," she told her and now Elizabeth laughed.

"You seem to think a lot of things are great at the moment," Teyla nodded happily and went back to searching for her pyjamas.

TBC


	20. Chapter 20

**Jammeke – **I'm really glad you liked the conversation between Jack and Ronon, and you're right there wasn't much Sparky but that doesn't really take off until the second story. I hope you enjoy this chapter though and thanks for the review.

**Bunnylass – **The Ronon and Jack conversation was my favourite part of the last chapter to write. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Stargatefreak62 – **Thanks, I'm glad you liked the last chapter even if you're not a Ronon/Teyla fan.

**Saphiretwin369 – **I loved writing protective Jack in the last chapter and I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Belanna30 – **Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Sparklyshimmer2010 – **The next part of this starts sometime after this part finishes lol. I know it's hard to be patient for your ships but it wouldn't have been realistic to have all the couples get together in the first story. Thanks for the review and I hpe you enjoy this chapter.

**Savertin – **I hope you enjoy this chapter too.

**Steph7085 – **I'm glad you liked Jack's interrogation and the date scene. I figured it was time Sam and Daniel got a little bit of development. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Kuroima – **There's 28 chapters in this first story so still got a few to go yet. I'm glad you liked the scene between Jack and Ronon and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks for the review.

- - -

Chapter 20

Elizabeth came to the library to study; it was supposed to be a quiet place for students to work. Jack and Teyla seemed to have temporarily forgotten that and their bickering kept going from quiet to loud and had attracted the attention of the librarian several times already.

"Shhh," the short, angry looking woman hushed them again and Jack and Teyla both apologised once again.

"It's none of your business anyway," Teyla hissed as she turned back to Jack.

"I was only asking you how your date went," Jack whispered back.

"And I answered your question," Teyla informed him and Jack looked at her incredulously.

"I don't think 'good' really answers the question," Jack stated, his voice rising slightly out of the whispered tones but not enough to attract attention.

"I believe it does," Teyla responded raising her own voice to match his. "Seriously, it's kind of a girl thing to want all the details."

"It is not," Jack exclaimed his voice rising once again and this time it was enough for the librarian to appear from behind the bookshelf near their desk.

"Enough or I'll kick all of you out," she told them angrily and Jack and Teyla apologised for the third time. Elizabeth resisted the urge to point out that neither she nor John was involved in the argument, one look at the annoyed librarian told her she wouldn't care.

"Are you going to see him again?" Jack asked quietly.

"Yeah, probably at lunch and in the Atala guild meeting next week," she told him sarcastically.

"You know what I mean," he hissed at her and she shrugged.

"Does it matter?" she asked him, the volume of their argument was already increasing and as much as Elizabeth didn't want to butt in, she was going to get in trouble if they didn't stop. She took a breath to say something but between the two of them she couldn't get a word in.

"Yes, I need gossip to send around the Atala's," he told her and Elizabeth tried not to roll her eyes and sigh. The argument was completely pointless; she didn't even know why Teyla wouldn't tell him about her date and why Jack wouldn't just admit he was only asking because he cared.

"Well I don't intend to give you any," their voices had once again risen enough to call attention to them but not enough for the librarian to say something. She did however shoot them a reproachful look that neither Jack nor Teyla saw as they continued.

"Elizabeth, can you help me find a book?" John asked quietly and Elizabeth looked at him wondering what book he could need that they didn't already have surrounding them on the table. She saw the look he was giving her though and she nodded her head. The two of them stood up and walked away from the table, they reached the stairs to the second tier in time to hear Jack and Teyla being given a final warning.

"We might as well see if there's anything else we can use while we're up here," Elizabeth stated as they walked up the stairs to the level where the Defence books were.

They looked over the railing and down to the bottom floor where all the tables were lined up. It looked from here like Jack and Teyla were still arguing and Elizabeth really hoped their two friends didn't get themselves kicked out before they could actually do any research for their Defence project.

"Was it a bad date, is that why she won't say anything?" John asked as he looked through the shelves for any books that looked like they might contain information about defensive charms.

"No, it was great, you should have seen how happy she was when she walked into the room last night," Elizabeth informed him. "I think she just thinks Jack will mock her mercilessly if she says anything."

"Can't say I blame her but I don't think Jack will mock her much," John replied with a shrug as Elizabeth joined him in his search for books. Some of which were kinda dusty and obviously hadn't been taken down from the shelves for years. "If they're still arguing when we go back down there, we're moving tables."

- - -

"Weekends go by way to quickly," Kate stated as she sat in her World of Magic lesson listening to an over enthusiastic Professor Niya talk about a plant that had strange magical properties.

"Well, think of it this way," Daniel began as he wrote something down and then turned to look at her "After today there's only four days left until the next weekend."

Kate narrowed her eyes at him. "Not that it makes much difference; I have so much work to do that I may just as well be in lessons."

"It could be worse," Carson stated from her other side. "You could be stuck in a Potions lesson with Rodney right now."

Kate cocked her head to the side to show she was conceding the point, "I feel for Sam, I really do. Radek too but add him and Rodney arguing constantly and I think Sam has it worse then he does. Even when they're not trying to blow her up."

"Some people believe that if you wear the plant around your neck it prolongs your life," Niya continued and despite not believing that for a second Kate wrote it down and then continued with their conversation.

"You know its Elizabeth's birthday in a couple of weeks right?" she asked the two boys who both shook their heads.

"No, how'd you find that out?" Daniel asked.

"Teyla," she stated simply. "Jack wants to do something special, sort of like we did for his birthday except more Elizabeth. I don't think she's a clubbing person. Teyla says she'd probably be happier if we all just went out for a meal."

"I'd say she's probably right, there's that really nice restaurant at the other side of town, it's expensive but I think Elizabeth would probably like it there," Daniel stated thoughtfully and Kate struggled to think what restaurant he was talking about but quickly gave up, it was possible she just hadn't seen it.

"Well, you should tell Jack, John and Teyla, they seem to be the organisers behind it. Now I just need to figure out what present to get her. She's a hard woman to buy for, mostly cos I don't know her all that well. She's far too closed off," Kate continued talking more to herself now than her friends. "She seems to like books… but I have no way of knowing what books she'd want. Maybe a…"

"Kate," Carson snapped his fingers in front of her which stopped her rambling and got her attention. "Why don't you just ask her what she wants?"

"Seriously Carson," she began incredulously "Does she seem like the type that's going to give you a straight answer to that question?" she asked "She'll say 'I don't know' or 'you don't have to get me anything' or something like that."

"Probably," Carson replied.

"So ask Teyla," Daniel suggested "The woman shares a room with her, if anyone will know what Elizabeth likes it'll be her."

"Daniel, sometimes I think you're a genius," Kate stated as Niya finished saying something that sounded like it had been important and they'd all missed it.

- - -

Teyla had finally given up and told Jack how her date had gone, to her surprise the mocking had been kept to a minimum. She had seen Ronon only a handful of times since Saturday and it seemed as if nothing had changed between then. She was well aware of people watching the two of them, waiting for some kind of sign of what was going on but if they wanted to see one, they'd have to get in line because Teyla didn't even know yet.

She knew she shouldn't be thinking about her date during lesson but at least it was distracting her from Mathos' constant staring. If she wanted to get into the Protectorates Guild then she was going to have do exceptional in Defence but with Mathos as her teacher that seemed less and less likely.

"Hello… Teyla!" Jack almost had to shout to get her attention and Teyla jumped as she looked at him. "You were a million miles away."

"Yeah sorry," she replied casting a quick glance in Mathos' direction before focusing on her work. "Okay where were we?"

"We were discussing how much the wording of a spell affects the outcome," Jack reminded her and Teyla nodded as she shifted her brain back into gear. "I say we add a few examples from history and we can probably make up a few of our own."

"Sounds like a good idea," Teyla told him. Both Jack and John had been working hard throughout the entire lesson. At the side of her John and Elizabeth were making progress on their project and Jack had probably done more of the work on theirs than she had that lesson. Both men seemed determined to prove Mathos wrong and take away his reasoning for moving Teyla to another part of the class.

"Are you alright?" Jack asked her "You seem kinda out of it," he stated sending a look at Mathos.

"I'm fine, just tired," she lied unnecessarily; she knew Jack knew what was bothering her. Jack, John and Elizabeth all seemed to have figured out that Mathos' attention was getting to her. She hadn't told anyone about the warning the girl had given her, she was probably wrong anyway. Mathos did nothing more than stare at her which he did to every girl in the class. He wanted her to move forward, closer to him, but that was nothing really, he wouldn't exactly try anything when an entire class was in the room.

"Professor," Jack called raising his hand and Teyla's gaze snapped around to him.

"Mr O'Neill?" Mathos questioned looking at Jack.

"Teyla and I need a couple of books from the library, can we go get them?" he asked and Mathos nodded his head after a moment. Jack stood up and Teyla followed after him. Neither of them said anything as they left the classroom but Teyla knew why he'd done it and she was grateful for the break from Mathos' staring.

"We only have fifteen minutes of the lesson left, by the time we get back it'll be time to pack up our things and enjoy a well earned free period before lunch," Jack told her and Teyla smiled and nodded.

"Any thoughts on Elizabeth's birthday?" she asked and Jack smiled mischievously.

"A few," he replied and Teyla eyed him warily.

"Any that Elizabeth will like," she added and his face fell.

"I got nothing," he stated and Teyla rolled her eyes at him.

"Daniel said something about a restaurant at the other side of town that he thinks Elizabeth will like. It's called 'The Pine', we should probably check it out this weekend," she informed him.

"It's a shame curfew moves to 10pm at the end of this week," Jack said solemnly as they left the main building and crossed over the grass to the library instead of using the path.

"Given what happened on your birthday an earlier curfew might not be a bad thing… we just have to learn how to stick to it," Teyla stated with a shudder at the memory of the wolves that would, had those other students not come along, most probably have eaten them all.

"Yeah, well, there is that," Jack replied holding open the door to the library for her.

"Now was their actually a book you had in mind or did you just want to get out of the lesson?" Teyla teased.

"Just wanted out of the lesson but we should get some books while we're here. No sense wasting an opportunity and Mathos will be suspicious if we go back without any books," Jack told her and Teyla gestured for him to precede her to the stairs.

They did manage to find several books that would probably be useful and after checking them out of the library they headed back to class. Everyone was still hard at work when they got back and Mathos watched them return to their seats just in time for him to dismiss the class.

"Perfect timing," Jack stated with a triumphant smile which he quickly hid when Mathos looked in their direction. They packed up their things and left the class room quickly.

"I'm starving," John announced "I skipped breakfast this morning."

"We did try to tell you," Elizabeth pointed out.

"I was feeling a little nauseous this morning," he defended and Jack clapped him on the back as the two men walked ahead of the girls to the cafeteria.

"Don't worry; I hear they're serving chocolate cake today."

TBC


	21. Chapter 21

**Saphiretwin369 – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the scene with Daniel, Carson and Kate, it was nice to write some of the other characters. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Sparklyshimmer2010 – **(stares suspiciously) you're gonna stop bugging me about Sparky? I'll be shocked if you make it all the way to the next part without saying anything lol. As for their schedules, yes I have it all written down. It took me two days to put together, 32 students, 6 lessons a day, five days a week and no overlaps, took a lot of work lol.

**Belanna30 – **Jack is definitely playing the big brother, I'm really enjoying writing the sibling dynamic between them. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph7085 – **Elizabeth's birthday is coming up soon, in the meantime I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Jammeke – **I'm really enjoying the sibling relationship between Jack and Teyla, it's a lot of fun to write and I'm glad you enjoy reading it. Elizabeth is definitely rubbing off on John, thanks for the review.

**Bunnylass – **I find Jack one of the easiest characters to write, he's very complex but once you know him, he's easy. John and Liz are getting more comfortable around each other too, thanks for the review.

**Anonymous – **I don't know if you left a name but it's not showing up so Anonymous will have to do lol. I'm glad you liked the scene between Carson, Daniel and Kate, it was fun to write. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 21

Jack listened intently as Professor Colbrun talked about the ethical code and its laws on financial gain magic. It was a topic notorious for showing up on the first year exam paper and was usually one of the ones worth several marks. There was silence through most of the class as they all took down as many notes as they could, John had the most detailed notes Jack had ever seen his friend write.

Thursday was thankfully almost over, all he had to do was get through tomorrow and then he'd have the weekend to catch up on the massive amounts of homework he had to do. He had several projects, a few essays and a research assignment all on his 'to do' list. It made him glad that his Defence project was done with a partner and his world of Magic project was done in groups, it took some of the pressure off.

Jack sighed when he saw the clock and realised he still had half of the lesson to go yet. He needn't have bothered though because Colbrun seemed to come to the end of his speech and didn't appear to be getting started on another one. Instead he stood up and walked around his desk.

"I know you all have a lot of work to do for your other lessons and since we're actually slightly ahead in the syllabus, I'm going to let you go early. I suggest you use your time wisely. Class dismissed," he said and the class seemed surprised and equally grateful. They began tossing their stuff into their bags quickly as though they were expecting Colbrun to change his mind and make them stay.

"Well that was nice of him," Teyla stated as they all left the room.

"We have half an hour until World of Magic, what do you wanna do?" Jack asked as he looked at his watch.

"I think we should all head to the library and work on our World of Magic project, it's due in next week," John suggested and everyone looked at him in surprise. "What?"

"You're saying you think we should go and work?" Teyla asked as though seeking clarification.

"Is that really so shocking?" John asked.

"Yes," Elizabeth replied and smiled as she headed in the direction of the library. John narrowed his eyes and glared half seriously at her retreating back before running to catch up with her.

"Ya think they're ever gonna realise?" Teyla asked as she watched them walk away.

"Eventually, with a few nudges," Jack replied and Teyla nodded her head. "We'd better catch up with them."

- - -

Vala was walking out of her room and had almost made it to the stairs when someone called her name. She turned around to see the brunette that had been annoying John at lunch a little while ago. She seemed to have decided that more clothes were a good idea in winter.

"Vala, right?" she questioned as she came to a stop in front of her and Vala nodded.

"Yeah and you're…Chaya," she replied.

"I am," she told her happily and then proceeded to link arms with her and pull her toward the stairs. "You're friends with John right?"

"Yeah," Vala answered her cautiously, she had a feeling she knew where this was going.

"You know us high class girls have got to stick together," Chaya began, suddenly sounding more superior than before and Vala wouldn't even have thought that was possible. "You could put a good word in from me with John, make him see reason."

Vala chose not to respond to that, she made an attempt to pull her arm free from Chaya's but the woman held on.

"And that girl he's always hanging around with, the one with dark hair, who is she?" Chaya asked so innocently she almost had Vala convinced.

"You mean Elizabeth?" she asked, she knew where this had come from and if she got an opportunity to rub it in Chaya's face, she was damn well going to take it.

"Is that her name?" she questioned and Vala nodded.

"Yeah, she's a Governors daughter, she and John are in all the same classes," she told the woman with a sweet smile and watched with enjoyment as the surprise and annoyance flickered over Chaya's face.

"She's a Governor's daughter?" Chaya asked "Why is she staying in Raildon halls then?"

"You'd have to ask her," Vala said, pulling her arm free as they reached the exit to the tower.

"Maybe, don't forget to put in a good word for me," she called after her as Vala started walking away. She stopped abruptly and turned back to Chaya.

"I won't be putting a good word in for you, John's not interested, you should just leave him alone," Vala informed her. Cruel, yes, but John was being far too nice to her and she was never going to get the message that way. She turned and walked away from the brunette who looked rather shocked that someone had spoken to her like that.

She took only a second to feel slightly remorseful, after all she didn't really know the girl and she was basing her opinion on John's reaction to her at lunch. Something about her though, told her she wouldn't like her if she did know her.

"Vala, come on, we're already late meeting the others," Sam said as she walked out of Entrix towers and grabbed hold of her sleeve as she passed by. Vala had no choice but to be dragged along toward the cafeteria.

The school week was finally over and this one seemed to have dragged on forever. It was Friday night though and the last day before the curfew was brought forward. Half an hour might not seem like much but when you were out having fun it could make a lot of difference. They'd all decided to enjoy this last day and were going into town for dinner. It would be fun to see if they actually made it back by curfew.

When they made it to the cafeteria they discovered they were the last to arrive though no one seemed particularly bothered. The guys were all tossing a football around and receiving stern looks from the cafeteria staff. The girls were all sitting around one of the tables talking.

"Here they are," Carson announced when he saw the final two members of their large group arriving.

"Alright, we have a reservation at 7, so we'll have some free time when we get there. Please keep the shopping bags to a minimum and all alcohol must be consumed responsibly," Jack stated in an impression of a tour guide as the group grabbed their things and made for the exit.

- - -

"This is the place," John stated as he, Jack and Teyla stood outside the large restaurant that Daniel had suggested for Elizabeth's birthday. "It looks nice."

John turned to Jack who was looking around him warily; he stopped when he saw John looking at him "What? Just making sure Elizabeth isn't going to wonder over here and see us planning her birthday dinner," he explained defensively.

"Janet and Laura have strict instructions to keep her occupied at the opposite side of town. I was going to have Vala take her shopping but even I'm not that cruel," Teyla told them and then looked back at the restaurant. "Well, let's take a look inside."

The three of them entered the restaurant through the large wooden doors. Inside looked even bigger than the outside. Tables were spread out, with a more than satisfactory amount of space between them all. They were covered with red table cloths which matched the curtains and several chandeliers provided the majority of the light in the room.

"Well the food smells good, I think I'm even hungrier than when we came in," Jack stated as he looked around, clearly impressed.

"May I help you?" a man in a waiter's uniform questioned as he approached them.

"We were just taking a look around, our friend's birthday is coming up," Teyla told him and the man smiled and nodded his head.

"Of course, this is a popular place for birthday dinners. Would you like to see a menu?" the waiter asked and then handed one to John who opened it up allowing Teyla to read it over his shoulder. "If you make a reservation beforehand we can ensure that starters are ready when you arrive. You can order your meals then, also we can do birthday cakes which can be brought out at your say so."

"Wow, that's an impressive service," Jack commented.

"The food here sounds amazing, there's a lot to choose from. I don't think anyone will have a problem finding something they like," Teyla stated as she and John closed the menu and handed it back to the waiter.

"We'll just discuss it with the rest of the party and we'll get back to you," John said and the waiter smiled as he handed them a piece of paper.

"This is a menu and pricelist for all of our services so you can decide what starters you want when you make the reservation," he informed them and John thanked him as they all left the building.

"That place is perfect, Elizabeth will love it," Teyla decided as they walked away from the large restaurant.

"Daniel was right though, it's pretty expensive, nothing we can't all afford though," John added.

"So we'll just run it by the others and if everyone agrees we can make the reservation this week," Jack finished and with everyone in agreement they made their way to the restaurant they would be eating at today. They were the first to arrive and were a little early so they had to wait for several minutes for their table to be prepared.

The rest of the group arrived shortly after that and poor Elizabeth looked tired from being dragged to a few pubs by her designated babysitters. Hopefully her birthday dinner would more than make up for it.

- - -

John and Jack joined the rest of the group in the cafeteria. It being the weekend and winter there was no where else for Junior students to go. The majority of the group was there, Cameron and Daniel hadn't shown up yet but they probably wouldn't be long now. Teyla and Elizabeth weren't there but that had been the plan, Jack and John had entrusted her with making Elizabeth late for breakfast so that they could discuss the birthday meal with everyone else.

"Morning," Carson greeted as the two men sat down with their breakfasts.

"Did you see the restaurant yesterday?" Janet asked, straight to business.

"Yeah, it's perfect," John stated as he pulled the pricelist out of his pocket and handed it to Janet. She looked down the list and nodded approvingly at several points before passing the list along the table.

"Oooo pricey," Marcus stated when he got hold of the paper "But I'm in."

"In what?" Daniel asked as he and Cameron finally arrived at the table and Marcus gave him the paper.

"Oh, you liked it then," Daniel said as he passed the paper along. Once everyone had voiced their agreement with the chosen venue, they moved on to what everyone wanted for starters. John made a list of the several dishes they wanted and knew they probably wouldn't eat it all. He tucked the list and the pricelist into his pocket just in time to see Elizabeth and Teyla heading in their direction from the cafeteria queue.

"I don't even understand how your Defence assignment could have ended up in the middle of my Potions text book," Elizabeth was saying and John looked down to hide a smile, that would have been how Teyla had stalled Elizabeth so long.

"Well neither do I," Teyla replied "Unless… you want me to fail Potions," Teyla gave Elizabeth a look of suspicion that almost had John convinced that she hadn't put the assignment in Elizabeth's text book in the first place.

"Really Teyla, stop talking," Elizabeth instructed her as she sat down and ignored Teyla's pout. "And was it really necessary to turn our room into a replica of the great Etarian battlefield. I nearly killed myself this morning just trying to get from one end of the room to the other."

"That assignment was important," Teyla exclaimed feigning upset. "I had to find it."

"And throwing the entire contents of your wardrobe across the room helped you to do that, how?" Elizabeth questioned and for a second John thought Teyla didn't have a comeback for that but as usual the brunette had an answer for everything.

"I had to get them out of my way somehow, it seemed like the fastest method," Teyla stated and John had to applaud her acting skills but decided it was best to interrupt the argument before Elizabeth caught Teyla out.

"Morning ladies, sleep well?" he asked receiving an annoyed look from Jack for ruining his entertainment.

"Fine," Elizabeth replied after she and Teyla had finished glaring at each other. The rest of breakfast was fairly uneventful, the only entertainment they had after that was when Rodney spilt coffee down himself and started jumping around.

Teyla left the cafeteria and went back to her room, she had to clean up the mess she'd made while trying to stall Elizabeth. Elizabeth for her part was refusing to help her tidy it and after much pouting and sulking Teyla had finally decided to just get it done. She'd barely left the cafeteria when she heard Ronon call her name.

She stopped and took a moment to turn around, they'd barely spoken since their date and it seemed as though nothing had changed, except now she felt awkward around him. When she'd asked him she's been trying to prove a point to Elizabeth, she hadn't expected to enjoy the date as much as she had.

"Ronon," she acknowledged as he stood in front of her.

"Do you wanna go for dinner with me this afternoon?" he asked and Teyla paused before answering hoping she'd actually heard him correctly. "I was going to ask you before but things have been a little crazy and with everyone watching us, I wanted to wait until I could get you alone."

Well, now she felt a little better. "Sure," she replied and he smiled and leaned down to kiss her cheek as he had done on their first date.

"I'll meet you outside your room at 6.30," he told her and then turned to head back to the cafeteria. Teyla watched him go and allowed herself a small smile before registering how cold she was standing outside. She picked up her pace the rest of the way to the dorms and was relieved when she finally entered the warmth of the building. As she walked into her room she realised that all of her nice clothes were currently lying all over the floor and she was going to have to pick something to wear out of them.

- - -

Teyla knocked on the door to John's room and waited the few minutes it took for him to answer. "Teyla, what can I do for you?"

"You mean you don't all know already?" she asked, a hint of amusement in her voice and John cocked his head to the side with a confused frown on his face. "I'm going to dinner with Ronon again."

John smiled and Teyla braced herself for the impending jokes and ribbing, surprisingly it didn't come. "That's great, what do you need me for?"

"The list with the starters on it, I figured I'd go to the restaurant and make the reservation while I'm in town," she told him and John nodded his head and gestured for her to enter the room. He routed around in the papers on his desk before handing her the piece of paper she'd requested.

"You look great by the way," he told her and she smiled and thanked him while trying to hide the blush she could feel creeping up her neck.

"I should go, I'm meeting Ronon in a few minutes," she said as she headed back toward the door. John held it open for her and she thanked him once again as she stepped out into the corridor and made her way back to her own dorm room to meet Ronon.

When she got back to her room Ronon was already there waiting for her. He was sat on the chair by the dressing table talking to Elizabeth who was still doing her Mythology homework.

"Ready to go?" Ronon asked her once he saw her and she nodded her head. They both said bye to Elizabeth and heard her shout something about having fun as they left the room. For some reason she was more nervous than she had been on their first date and she wasn't a girl that got butterflies very often.

TBC


	22. Chapter 22

**Steph7085 – **Thank, I'm glad you liked Vala in the last chapter; I hope you enjoy this one.

**Jammeke – **I amused myself with John wanting to do homework as well lol, as for Chaya, well you'll see what she's up to later. Thanks for the review.

**Saphiretwin369 – **I'm glad I have my internet back too; it was torture not having it. Glad you liked Teyla's line and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Bunnylass – **It was a nice try by Chaya but like you said, Vala isn't the type to fall for her manipulations. I don't know why I'm so comfortable writing Jack, he just comes easily to me. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Sparklyshimmer2010 – **If you make it I'll send you lots of Sparky cookies lol (sends you some as tasters). Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the scene with Vala and Chaya.

**Belanna30 – **Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this update.

**Kuroima – **I was wondering who that was lol, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter, the scene with Elizabeth and Teyla fighting was a lot of fun to write. Thanks for the review.

- - -

Chapter 22

Carson had been listening to the backing and forthing between Jack and Teyla all morning. Jack had found out late last night that Teyla had gone for dinner with Ronon again and had gone into big brother mode, ranting about having not been told. This morning he'd brought it up and it had turned into a minor argument which thankfully had settled down fairly quickly. Now they were just making snide comments to each other every few minutes.

"Would you two give it a rest," Daniel said.

"Yeah guys, this is getting kinda annoying now," Janet agreed. Jack and Teyla narrowed their eyes at the pair but seemed to drop their bickering, at least for now.

Ronon finally arrived at the table though he was by no means the last of the group to show up for breakfast. Half the group seemed to be taking the morning off to sleep in which was not entirely surprising. Magic School was getting tougher and the piles of homework they were all getting seemed to be growing rapidly.

He sat down next to Teyla with a grunt of greeting to the rest of the group. Jack seemed to be trying very hard to bite back whatever comment was on the tip of his tongue, whether it was designed to start more bickering or just one of his sarcastic remarks, the group would thankfully never know.

Cameron was the next to arrive and he joined Ronon as he headed off to the cafeteria queue for food. The following half an hour passed pleasantly enough and the bickering seemed to have come to an end. It figured that's when Rodney would show up having not slept well and not yet gotten any coffee into his system.

"Oh look it's the caveman, next time you wanna whisk Teyla away on a date you might wanna let Jack know. The man spent the entire evening complaining about being kept out of the loop," Rodney announced and then tripped over Jack's leg which had been conveniently placed in his path. "What did you do that for?" Rodney exclaimed irritably as he pulled himself up from the floor.

"Do what?" Jack asked and Carson chose to jump in before another argument developed.

"Sleep well Rodney?" he asked and Rodney abandoned whatever he was about to say to Jack and turned to answer Carson.

"No, I spent all night tossing and turning and staring at the ceiling," Rodney moaned as he sat down and stole a slice of toast from Cameron's plate. Cameron wasn't quick enough and the toast was in Rodney's mouth before he could do anything about it.

Carson sighed and dropped his head into his hands as yet another argument broke out.

- - -

"We should probably mention defensive spells becoming offensive somewhere," Jack stated and Teyla nodded her head in agreement, writing it down on a piece of paper and trying to figure out where in the project that should go. They only had a few weeks left until their defence projects were due in and theirs was finally beginning to look for like a project and less like a jumble of essays, notes and charts.

They'd retreated to Teyla's room at the end of their Monday lessons to try and make some for progress with it. John and Elizabeth had been working on theirs for the majority of the weekend and so were taking the day off from it. They were probably in the cafeteria right now, enjoying the cake Jack knew was on the menu whilst he and Teyla muddled through their work.

Teyla reached for the piece of paper that had a chart of the different types of defensive spells and how often they were used. She leaned back against the side of her bed, her eyes scanning the paper and she sighed. "We need more information on counter spells."

Jack, who was sitting opposite her leaning against Elizabeth's bed took the paper from her hands and decided she was right. Next to blocking spells they were the most common type of defensive spells and he knew they only had a small part of the project devoted to it.

"I think there's a book in the library 'Countering and Blocking' or something, can you go get it?" she asked and Jack was about to ask why he had to be the one to go when he realised how tired she was and simply nodded his head.

"This could take me a while, you should probably take a nap," he joked as he stood up and Teyla smiled in response.

He left the room and nodded his head in acknowledgement of the students he knew that passed by him. Once he was out of the building he ran through the rain to the library and tried to shake some of the water off him once he was inside. He headed up to the third tier where he had learnt the Defence books were kept and started searching through the books for the title Teyla had given him.

After several minutes with no sign of the desired book he was beginning to give up. "Libraries aren't your thing are they?" an amused voice stated from behind him and he turned to see Sam standing there looking thoroughly entertained by his frustration.

"How could you tell?" he asked and Sam smiled and stepped up beside him.

"What are you looking for?" she questioned.

"Teyla sent me to find a book on counter spells, 'Countering and Blocking' she thinks it's called," he told her and she smiled and nodded her head moving along the bookshelf.

"Everything's divided into sections, even within sections, Defence is broken up into spells, charms, symbols ect, ect," she informed him. "Books that fall into two categories are put in the category whose letter comes first in the alphabet. You were looking in counter spells, but Blocking would come first," she told him reaching to the shelf and pulling the book he wanted from it. "There you go."

"Thanks," Jack replied taking the book from her hand "And now I know how libraries work."

She smiled and laughed softly "Doing your defence project?" she asked and he nodded his head. "Mine is finally starting to look like it's supposed to, my partner wanted to do Charms but I managed to convince him spells would be easier. You should take this book as well, it's very useful."

Jack took the second book from her "So, you're missing dinner too huh?" he questioned.

"Yeah, had some homework I needed to do," she replied and he nodded his head again.

"Well, Teyla and I are getting a late dinner in a few hours, wanna join us?" he asked and she smiled once again. For some reason that smile did strange things to his stomach and he forced himself to ignore them.

"Sure, I'll see you later," she told him and then turned to walk away. Jack watched her go with a small smile before he followed her example and left.

When he got back to Teyla's room he found his partner asleep on her bed. He cocked his head noting how deceptively peaceful she looked when sleeping and then put the two books down on the desk. He reached for the blanket on the chair and covered Teyla with it deciding she could probably do with the sleep. However looking down at the masses of work on the floor he knew it still needed to be done.

Grabbing the books from the desk he sat back down on the floor and dug out the pad of writing paper to make notes from the books.

- - -

Teyla had been pleasantly surprised to wake up and find Jack sitting on the floor having made several pages of notes for their project. That had been followed by a slight embarrassment at having fallen asleep in the first place. Despite her brain being fogged by sleep they had managed to get some more work done before calling it a day and heading to the cafeteria.

They had arrived to find Sam, Cameron, Vala and Ronon all sitting around one of the tables. She had no idea where the rest of the group were but figured town and the library were the two most likely places.

"Everything set for Elizabeth's birthday next week?" Vala asked.

"Yep, the reservation was made and the starters and cake have been paid for. We had to ask for a pretty big cake since we're a big group and have several people who would probably eat the entire thing if they could," Teyla stated with the side glance at Jack.

"I still haven't bought a present for her yet," Sam said "I have no idea what to get her, any ideas?"

"I've been asked that question so many times over the last week," Teyla mused with a laugh "Clothes, books, cosmetics, chocolates, the usual gifts, just in an Elizabeth style," she informed them all and there were several slow nods around the table. "I think Jack and John are actually the only people that haven't asked me."

"What are you getting her?" Cameron asked Jack.

"I got her present a couple of weeks ago; there was a book I know she wanted. She was looking at it on one of the shopping trips Teyla managed to rope us into," Jack stated with a shrug and Teyla smiled.

"And he thinks he's not observant," she quipped.

At the end of dinner Jack was the first to leave determined to pass out on his bed and not wake up until lunch time tomorrow. His logic being that the only lesson he had in the morning was potions and he'd only go to sleep in it anyway, he might as well sleep straight through in his more comfortable bed. They all knew he'd be in the lesson.

Sam and Vala left shortly after Jack and Cameron only minutes after them leaving Teyla alone with Ronon and no excuse not to ask him the question that had been burning away in her brain since yesterday. Another fantastic date, another kiss on the cheek and more questions than she knew what do with. Proving a point to Elizabeth seemed to have become more complicated than she'd expected.

"Last night was good," she began, opening the door and hoping he stepped through it because, truth be told, she had no idea what she was doing.

"Yeah it was," was his only reply and she sighed inwardly, why did this have to be so hard. There was nothing else for it; she was just going to have to dive straight in.

"Look Ronon, I'm confused…" she started but then lost her nerve and trailed off. "Are we… together?"

She braced herself for his reaction, he could burst into laughter, let her down gently, tell her he had no idea either or that dating her had been a mistake. She had no idea what to expect and she almost screwed her eyes shut as she held her breath and awaited his response.

"I don't know," was his slightly confused reply which he seemed to have considered for several moments. "Do you wanna be?" he asked.

Teyla completely froze, she could have embarrassed herself enough already, did she really want to risk making it worse. "I don't know… maybe."

She was actually shaking now; she kept her hands on her lap so that Ronon wouldn't see them and managed to keep her face as neutral as possible. Ronon stared at her for what seemed like forever, she could almost see the cogs turning in his head as he thought. "Do you?" she finally got the courage to ask.

"Maybe… yes," his reply had the immediate effect of making every muscle in her body tense up and for several moments she could do nothing but sit there and stare at him.

"Me too," she forced her mouth to say and he smiled slightly.

"Dinner, tomorrow, we'll talk more," he told her and she nodded her head in agreement before standing up along with him and leaving the cafeteria. It was cold, dark and raining outside which is why Teyla had to stop and laugh at the sight of several of her friends heading toward them from the trees.

John, Elizabeth, Janet, Carson, Laura and Marcus all walked toward them soaked from head to toe. Janet and Laura were huddled to either side of Marcus who had his arms round both of them. Elizabeth was in between John and Carson who seemed to be keeping her relatively warm. Water was dripping from all of them and Teyla forced herself not to laugh at them as the rain settled on her coat.

"Why would you go into town today?" she asked.

"Seemed like a good idea at the time," Janet replied, detaching herself from Marcus and grabbing Laura and Elizabeth. The three girls shouted 'bye' as they ran in the direction of the girl's dorms and Teyla took off after them. She caught up with them in the staircase in Raildon Halls just as Laura and Janet split off to go to their room.

"Not a word," Elizabeth warned her as they made their way to their room. Once inside Elizabeth immediately took off the thick coat that had tried valiantly to protect her from the monsoon outside but had only been able to do so much. As a result her clothes underneath were soaked too and Elizabeth grabbed her pyjamas and immediately went into the bathroom.

Teyla took off her own – not quite so wet – coat and placed it near the heater to dry. She ran a brush through her hair which had got slightly wet in the short time she'd been out there. She then changed into her thick, fluffy, green pyjamas and grabbed her pen and paper from the desk.

She was sitting in her bed, half way through a letter to her father when Elizabeth emerged from the bathroom, showered and dressed in her dry pyjama's. She dropped her wet clothes into the laundry basket and placed her coat near Teyla's before picking up the hairdryer to dry her hair.

"Better?" Teyla asked with an amused smile.

"Yep."

- - -

It was mid way through the week and just over two weeks until their defence projects were due in. John and Elizabeth had completed several chapters, almost completed others and were deciding whether to add more in.

John had spent more time in the library in the last few weeks that in the rest of his life put together. Strangely enough though, he didn't seem to mind being there so much anymore. He'd gone from only mildly interested in his school work and putting only an adequate effort into it to actually putting as much time and effort in as he needed to. In the case of his defence project as much as Elizabeth told him to. Three months ago he would not have been quite so concerned about his education.

"We need to extend the part about whether charms are actually magical or if their power is all in people's minds," John mused as he re read that part of the project. "It's already half a chapter; we could probably make that a separate chapter."

"We'll need to extend the other half then to make up for it," Elizabeth stated as she leaned over to see what he was looking at.

"That should be easy, we could just add some more examples in," John told her and she nodded her head in agreement.

"Let's do it that way then," she agreed and John grabbed a pencil to start marking what needed to be moved into a separate chapter and where more information needed to be added.

Elizabeth was busy with the history of defensive charms section and from the look of it, would be for a while yet. Now that the project was taking shape and he was beginning to see what the finished product was going to look like he found himself very proud of their work.

"It's looking good," he stated conversationally and she nodded her head again as she made a minor spelling correction, how 'protect' had ended up with a 'G' in it, he'd never know.

"Yeah it is, we should have it finished with time to spare," she replied as she examined her corrections to make sure there was no trace of the 'G' she had erased, erasing ink was a wonderful invention.

"Think we'll get an A?" he asked.

"I don't know, I hope so," she told him "We've put a lot of work into this."

"No kidding, I don't think I've ever worked this hard on a piece of school work in my life," he stated humorously and she smiled as she deemed that the page she was examining met her standards and moved onto the next.

"Let's hope it's the beginning of a trend," she said and John smiled and turned back to the section he was supposed to be working on. He had a feeling this would actually be the start of a trend. Elizabeth had been right all those weeks ago when she'd told him that if he wanted to get into the Protectorates Guild he was going to have to work for it and for the first time, it didn't seem like a chore.

- - -

The week had gone by so fast and now they were sat in Defence on the Friday afternoon working on their projects whilst Mathos skulked about. John and Elizabeth were working their way through theirs very quickly; they'd probably have it finished in a week.

They were both currently working on the chapter they'd decided to so split into two which seemed to have been a good decision. Beside them Jack and Teyla were both hard at work but Mathos had apparently decided they needed help. He leaned on the table inbetween Teyla and Elizabeth. It wasn't lost on John that Elizabeth moved closer to him, away from Mathos.

Teyla however hadn't moved at all but Mathos' arm was in the way so he couldn't see Teyla's face either. He did however see her go rigid when Mathos put an arm on her back and leaned closer to her work and coincidently closer to her.

"Now, Miss Emmagan," he began "This is looking very good but I think you should switch these two chapters around, the project flows better that way."

"Yes sir," Teyla said but Mathos didn't move away, instead he started pointing out more things he thought would make the project better.

"Teyla, do you have the sheet with the spell charts on?" Jack asked and John didn't doubt he was just trying to break the scene up.

"One moment Mr O'Neill," Mathos instructed and continued to work with Teyla.

"Professor could you help me with this please, I can't do anything else until its right," Elizabeth tried to distract the Professor who turned to her with barely concealed irritation.

"I'll be with you in a moment Miss Weir," he told her and then turned back to Teyla somehow managing to end up closer to her than before. Elizabeth turned a slightly panicked expression on John when nothing seemed to get their slime ball of a teacher off Teyla.

John made a decision and braced himself because this was going to hurt. He leaned his chair back so that it was balancing on the two back legs before giving himself a final push. The chair fell backwards taking him with it and he hit the floor with a crash and a thud.

"Mr Sheppard!" Mathos shouted in surprise and annoyance.

"Ouch!" John said from the floor as both Jack and Elizabeth jumped up to help him get back up.

"Perhaps you should be more careful," Mathos chastised "Are you hurt?"

Yes, would have been the honest reply because that had really, really hurt. "No."

"Then perhaps you should get back to work," Mathos stated before he left the group alone. Jack picked up John's chair and he sat back down it as his two friends sat back in their own chairs.

"Are you alright?" Elizabeth asked.

"I'll be fine," John told her.

"What did you do that for?" she questioned, surprise at his sudden actions still evident in her voice "Surely there was a less painful way to distract him."

"It worked didn't it?" he asked back and she cocked her head to the side to show she was conceding the point.

"Thank you," Teyla said quietly from where she was still in her chair and John nodded.

"No problem."

TBC


	23. Chapter 23

**Jammeke – **I'm glad you liked John falling off his chair, I really enjoyed writing that scene. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph7085 – **John falling off his chair was my favourite part of the last chapter, glad you liked it and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Saphiretwin369 – **Thanks for the review, there'll be more Jack and Sam in the next part of the series. As for Mathos, you'll find out soon enough where that's going. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Sparklyshimmer2010 – **(bakes more cookies in preparation) you can have more if you make it lol. I love writing Jack, I find him very easy. Mathos is going to become even more of a creep and John falling off his chair was so much fun to write. I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and thanks for the review.

**Belanna30 – **The pairings in this story are really frustrating me and everyone else lol. I just want to put them all together but it won't work like that lol. There'll be more Jack and Sam in the next part of the series along with John and Elizabeth, I promise. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Kuroima – **There's no distraction techniques going on here but if it works lol. You'll get lots of Jack and Sam in the next part though with your Sparky. John falling off his chair was my favourite part of the last chapter to write. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 23

After less than three months Magic School had changed everything, Elizabeth had come here knowing that it would be different but she hadn't been prepared for just how much it would influence her life. She wasn't blind to how much it had changed her either. She'd been a quiet, closed off and very distant person and honestly, she still was but a little less so.

So it shouldn't have been a surprise that people – that she could not deny had become her friends – were all over her on her birthday. She'd arrived in the cafeteria to a chorus of 'happy Birthday to you' and had people bouncing around shouting 'happy birthday' in overly excited voices. They'd told her she'd get her presents later and she told them a million times they hadn't needed to get her anything.

Lessons had been filled with Jack, John and Teyla singing 'happy birthday' to her under their breaths. This had informed the teachers that it was her birthday and they had joined the list of people wishing her a great day.

She was relieved when the school day came to a close and she could retreat to her room for a break from it all. That was until Teyla had burst into the room behind her and told her to get changed because they were going into town. Elizabeth had sighed but Teyla had dragged her off the bed telling her that they were going shopping for her birthday present. Teyla disappeared into the bathroom leaving orders to wear something nice because she was going to buy her a birthday drink.

Resigning herself to the Birthday cheer that she really wasn't used to Elizabeth had changed into black trousers and a low cut, tight fitted red top that she was about cover with a Jumper when Teyla grabbed the apparently offensive piece of clothing and tossed it to the other side of the room.

"That's disgusting and it doesn't match your skin tone, nice top though," Teyla said as she opened her wardrobe and pulled something out. She tossed whatever it was to Elizabeth and then all but dived back into her wardrobe in search of – from the sound of Teyla's mumbling – some shoes.

Elizabeth looked down at the black leather jacket in her hand and sighed as she put it on and then located her boots. Once they were both dressed they grabbed their coats and purses and left the room. The walk to town left them both frozen despite their thick winter coats but thankfully it wasn't raining. Elizabeth was dragged all the way to the other side of town and to her surprise into a large restaurant.

The rest of the group were already there, gathered around a long table in the corner, many of them already drinking. There was much cheering and shouts of 'happy birthday' when the two were spotted and Teyla grabbed her arm pulling her over to the two empty chairs at the table in between Jack and John.

A young waiter came over and smiled "Would you like the starters to be brought out now?" he asked.

"Yeah, thanks," Jack replied as another waiter came over to take the coats from the new arrivals. Elizabeth handed hers over reluctantly and settled herself into her chair. "We were about to send a search party out for you two."

"Sorry, we're a little late," Teyla apologised only moments before several trays of food arrived and were placed around the table and everyone was handed a plate. Eager hands reached for the various starters that had been ordered, the chicken wings disappeared in less than a minute but since John had been the first to get to that plate he'd grabbed enough for both him and Elizabeth.

"You're not ruthless enough," he explained as he put the chicken wings on her plate and she smiled and laughed softly at him.

"Nor fast enough," Jack stated from the other side of Teyla as he held the tray of potato wedges out of everyone's reach. He put some on his plate and then Teyla's before passing it around the back of the girls to John who did the same with his and Elizabeth's plate before he put the tray back in the centre of the table.

"Well, aren't you two well looked after," Laura said from the opposite side of the table before she all but tackled Ronon to get at the tray before it was emptied.

"Next time, I think we need mores starters," Kate mused as she grabbed several of the small sausages from the tray near her.

"Or at least more, chicken wings and potato wedges," Jack added.

"Everyone should start looking though the menu for what they want for the main course, we can worry about desert later," Jack instructed everyone as he grabbed the nearest menu and held it open for him and Teyla.

Meals were ordered fairly fast which was probably a good thing since it didn't take long for the starters to disappear. Thankfully, no one ordered anything that took too long to cook and the food was served relatively quickly.

"There was this huge tree outside the back of the Governors mansion, Jack and I used to climb it during the day," Janet told them all and Jack threw his head back. "At night though, he thought it was a monster standing outside his window watching him because the shadow on the curtain looked like a giant monster with arms reaching for him. He wouldn't sleep anywhere near the window, every morning they found him asleep in his closet where the monster couldn't get him."

"Do we have to talk about this?" Jack questioned and Janet laughed.

"I remember one day when his mother was ill, we were both playing in the mansion and his dad came to talk to him about not sleeping in the closet any more. Jack told him about the monster and his dad said, the only way to get rid of monsters is to not be afraid and fight them," Janet continued with a huge smile on her face.

"And I got over my fear and lived happily ever after," Jack interrupted quickly and Janet laughed even more.

"For the rest of the day we played super heroes and that night when the wind blew the tree and Jack thought it was reaching for him he ran to the other side of the room like he always did," Janet told them all, the grin on her face growing. "About 2 o clock in the morning my dad gets a message from the mansion that he's needed. My mom was working at the hospital that night so my dad had to wake me up and take me with him."

"Oh no, what had he done?" Daniel asked and Janet laughed for a moment before taking a breath,

"He'd taken his father's advice to heart and decided to fight the monster. He ran at his window and jumped out determined to fly over there and fight it away. He fell two stories, broke several bones and wound up stuck in bed for a couple of months and wouldn't go near the tree again. In the end his father had to have it cut down," she finished laughing at Jack who looked at her in mock hurt.

"It's not funny, the whole thing was very traumatic," Jack told her which only made her laugh more.

"You thought you could fly?" Teyla asked him laughing along with everyone else.

"I was eight!" Jack defended.

"The security guard who saw him fall, said he came charging out of his window with some weird battle cry and then just plummeted straight down," Janet told them all "Not funny at the time but hilarious looking back."

"Okay, if you're all done mocking me," Jack said bring the conversation to an end. He stood up and walked over to one of the waiters who'd been serving them, said something and then walked back. "It's time for desert."

Elizabeth found it strange than no one was picking up the menu but then the lights in the restaurant dimmed and John tapped her shoulder and pointed over to the door to the kitchens. It opened a second later and two waiters emerged carrying a huge birthday cake with several candles on top.

"Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Elizabeth, happy birthday to you," the group sang and even a few of the other people in the restaurant joined in. Elizabeth sank down in her chair as they did so and tried not to go red, failing miserably as the cake was placed in front of her.

"Make a wish," Vala instructed her.

Elizabeth closed her eyes unable to come up with a wish for several moments before just settling for getting through School. She blew out the candles on the cake and Jack very eagerly started pulling them out. John handed her the large knife that had been brought with it as the lights were turned back up and she cut large pieces of cake for everyone.

"Why is his piece bigger than mine," Rodney complained as he compared his own piece to Radek's next to him.

"It's the same size," Sam told him in exasperation and Rodney looked incredulous.

"Yeah, the same size as a small mountain," he replied with a sulk as he put a fork full of cake into his mouth. "Wait, there's no lemon in here is there?"

"Why would there be lemon in chocolate cake?" Cameron asked and Rodney relaxed seemingly forgetting that he had a smaller piece of cake than Radek. Elizabeth continued to hand out the cake with some help from John and Teyla.

"Oh my God, why does Carson get like half the cake?" Rodney asked watching Carson's plate get passed in front of him and he was hit in the face by a sausage that had been left on the table from their starters. "Who threw that?!" he exclaimed and there was no answer, only a rather innocent looking Teal'c in the direction it had come from.

Once the cake had been eaten and the waiters had cleared away everything but their drinks Elizabeth began opening presents. She had more new outfits than she had ever received at one time, several new books and more cosmetics than she'd ever owned.

She almost hugged Teyla, who had bought her not only a new outfit but two new books and a manicure kit. Jack had bought her the book that she'd been thinking about buying a few weeks ago as well as a box of chocolates, which he told her she had to share with everyone, especially him. There were so many presents being opened that she and everyone else lost track of who she had opened presents from.

At the end of dinner everyone but her pitched into pay for everything. They hadn't even let her get her purse out of her bag before they'd told her to put it away. There was a huge toilet stop before they left the restaurant where everyone took the opportunity to go. Elizabeth chose to wait until she was back at school because the queue would be long enough as is.

She went to wait outside wondering how she had gone from having no one, to having all these amazing people around her. She wasn't used to all this, to having people who wanted nothing but friendship from her and part of her was still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

A noise behind her caught her attention and she turned to see John walking toward her. He stepped up beside her in the empty street and she smiled and pulled her coat tighter around herself. "Not joining in the great toilet stop?" she asked him and he smirked.

"Saw the queue and decided against it," he informed her and then pulled something out of his pocket. It was another present, this one wasn't wrapped but it was in a small box.

"Didn't I open one from you?" she asked him, trying to remember who got her what.

"Yeah a book," he told her and then nodded toward the box "Happy Birthday."

She looked down at the small box and opened it up slowly to reveal her final birthday present. A delicate silver chain with a diamond encrusted crescent moon hanging from it. "John…" she trailed off unsure of how to respond and then she looked up at him "Thank you," she said and then smiled "Help me put it on?"

He nodded and took the necklace from the box, she turned around and allowed him to drape it around her neck before she pulled her hair out the way and he put the back in place. She turned around holding the moon between her fingers and looking down at it. "It's beautiful, thank you."

"It looks good on you," he told her and she smiled again just as some of the others walked out of the restaurant. She tucked the necklace into her coat and Jack draped an arm over her shoulder.

"It's been a good evening," he stated "And we may even make it back for curfew."

- - -

History of Magic had been cancelled whilst their teacher went on a field trip with some of the senior students; she wouldn't be back for a few weeks leaving Teyla free to walk with Ronon to his first lesson. They'd been officially 'together' for a week now and it was a decision she was glad of. Jack had stopped mocking her after the first few days and had even stopped demanding that he know when she was going on a date.

She loved Jack like the older brother she never wanted and thankfully didn't have but his protectiveness could be annoying sometimes. She was sure she'd miss it if it wasn't there though which was odd considering she'd only known him three months.

"Think Elizabeth enjoyed last night?" Ronon asked as they left the cafeteria and headed for the main building.

"She loved it but I think she was a little… taken aback by it all. I'm not sure why but she seems to be waiting to find out that we're all actually evil beings who want to kidnap and torture her," Teyla stated thoughtfully, she loved her room mate as much as Jack but she couldn't understand her serious lack of belief in the people around her.

"She seems to be coming around though, she's changed a lot since I met her at the first Atala meeting," Ronon mused and Teyla looked at him for a moment as he stopped walking. "You should leave me here, no sense walking up the stairs just to come back down again."

"Except the exercise," she quipped in what sounded suspiciously like a Jack style comment and she narrowed her eyes at herself and resolved to hit Jack when she went back into the cafeteria.

"I'll see you at lunch," he told her and once more kissed her on the cheek before he headed into the main building. Teyla stared after him for a moment before she decided she was cold enough and went back to the cafeteria.

As the door closed behind her Mathos stepped out from the tree he had been standing behind. He stared at the door Teyla had just gone through and then looked to the one Ronon had just used before once again looking at the one Teyla had disappeared through. Jealously and anger crossed his face and he took a moment to calm himself before he went to teach his first lesson.

- - -

Jack could only sit there and be annoyed as Mathos continually glanced up at Teyla throughout their entire lesson. He did his best to keep Teyla distracted by some part of the project or another but she had definitely noticed Mathos' staring. Jack couldn't put his finger on it but something was definitely different about the way Mathos was watching her, there was something else there.

Earlier John had suggested he throw himself off his chair again but that tactic had already been used and would only serve to injure his friend. Elizabeth seemed to be feeling uncomfortable with Mathos' attention to Teyla; she kept looking from one to the other and fiddling with the moon necklace that had appeared around her neck this morning. A gift from John, Jack knew, one he'd given her when the others weren't around.

The minute hand on the clock finally hit the twelve and a few seconds later Mathos noticed. "Alright everyone, that's it for today, please remember your projects are due in two weeks from now, class dismissed. Miss Emmagan, a word with you."

"We'll be outside," Jack told her making sure Mathos heard him.

"Okay," Teyla replied and they all reluctantly left the room. They waited outside and Jack was only just able to stop himself pacing. It was only a minute before Teyla emerged looking rather upset though she tried to hide it.

"Teyla…?" Elizabeth trailed off questioningly.

"He's moving me to the front of the class as soon as we finish work on the Defence projects," she informed them all.

"The hell he is," Jack stated angrily as he headed toward the classroom door. John stepped forward and grabbed his arm before he could get very far.

"Jack that won't help," John told him and Teyla stepped in front of him.

"John's right, it won't help," she said quietly. "Let's just go for lunch."

TBC


	24. Chapter 24

**Jammeke – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you enjoyed the birthday party especially the John and Elizabeth scene. No, I agree with you the first time, Mathos should be shot lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph7085 – **I hate Mathos too and Ronon isn't the type to take his advances on his girlfriend well is he lol. Thanks for the review; I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Saphire – **I'm glad you liked the present John gave Liz, you'll see whether or not Mathos will get what he deserves soon, only a few chapters left now. Thanks for the review.

**Sparkly – **Mathos is really getting creepy isn't he, but it was coming sooner or later, the stories almost over lol. I'm glad you liked Jack's story, it just popped into my head. You're doing well; almost there and then you can go back to bugging me (laughs at tape over mouth). I hope you enjoy this chapter, thanks for the review.

**Kuroima – **I'm glad you liked the story about Jack, it was a lot of fun to write (and imagine lol), I'm glad it made you laugh. The John and Liz scene was probably my favourite in the last chapter, just because I don't get to write much of it in this story. I know I ended the nice chapter with Mathos but he had to come in there somewhere. Thanks for the review.

**Bunnylass** – Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the part about Jack. I'm creeping myself out with Mathos at the moment lol. I'm glad the last chapter made you laugh and I hope you enjoy this one.

- - -

Chapter 24

The girls and guys should have been taught in separate groups that day but given that it was raining heavily outside and the field was a slippery accident waiting to happen, both groups were being taught in the indoor gym. Instead of the guys playing football outside they were forced to join the girls for gymnastics. None of them were particularly happy about this outcome but John had complained more than most. All complaints from the boys had stopped though when they realised they were hanging out with the girls in their leotards. 

John jumped up and down in star jumps and wished he could just go and climb the rope or something. After spending way too long doing aerobic exercises they were instructed to do several laps around the gym. Jack and John started but decided half way around that they couldn't be bothered today and stood in the corner out of the way.

They scanned the room for any sign of their two friends and found Teyla swinging around some bars, turning and spinning and doing things that had both men closing their eyes and waiting for the sound of her hitting the mat. They spotted Elizabeth standing at the end of a long mat staring at the vault at the other end. She took off at a run and then threw herself into the air, her hands connected with the vault for a second pushing her higher and her body spun around several times before her feat landed on the mat. It took her only a second to balance herself and both John and Jack let out a breath of relief.

"These girls are crazy," Jack stated as he watched in amazement as another girl did the same thing as Elizabeth however her landing wasn't quite as good and with a twist of her ankle she hit the floor. The girl was helped away and the next girl came along to do her own crazy stunt. "Why would they do this?"

Elizabeth had left the area with the vault and John and Jack followed her around to the area with several beams, staying to the side of the gym. She jumped up onto an empty one and balanced herself on the rather thin beam and the next thing they knew she was flipping over and landing safely on the beam again.

"Watch you don't fall," Teyla said humorously as she passed by Elizabeth and jumped up on the next beam. Apparently she'd got down from the bars safely.

"I thought you wanted to do your floor exercises today," Elizabeth stated and then proceeded to stand on her hands. Jack and John exchanged a look as Teyla flipped herself over without putting her hands on the beams.

"Mr Sheppard, Mr O'Neill!" they heard their coach shouting and they both turned to see Coach Holman, hands on his hips, looking at them with annoyed expression. "You are two laps behind the others."

Jack and John looked back at Elizabeth and Teyla who were now stood on the beams looking at them, apparently they'd been noticed. Both women were smiling and probably trying not to laugh at their friend's humiliation as several girls and some of the guys turned their attention on them.

"Since you seem to be so interested in the gymnastics perhaps you'd like to join the girls on the beams," Coach Holman suggested and Jack and John took one look at the thin beams and shook their heads.

"No sir," John replied.

"Then continue with your laps now," Holman instructed and both Jack and John ran off to do as instructed followed by the sound of several giggles.

- - -

World of Magic had finished early and Janet had gone to the library with Marcus to catch up on some homework. Laura had been starving, having skipped breakfast that morning, and decided to go straight for lunch. She'd found Carson in the cafeteria queue and the two of them had sat down for lunch together.

"Aren't you usually with Kate and Daniel?" Laura asked before shovelling her pasta into her mouth.

"Usually but Kate wanted to go into town for some things and Daniel has trouble saying no to anyone," Carson explained. "I didn't feel like making the trip through the cold."

"We'll have to beat that 'yes' thing out of him. One of these days someone will ask him to help them take over the world and we'll be in trouble if he still can't say no to people," Laura joked and Carson smiled as he reached for his drink. Laura liked Carson, well she actually liked everyone in their group and she had to confess to a small amount of like for Rodney. There were still a few members of their overly large group that she hadn't got to know well enough yet and Carson was sadly one of them.

He seemed nice enough, from what she'd seen 'nice' was a prerequisite of getting into Atala. They were all damn good at magic in some way or another, whether that be potions, spells or some other form of magic, but they were all very nice people. Carson was no exception to this, in fact at times he seemed to be nicer than most. He reminded her in a lot of ways of Janet; they both seemed to have the same indefinable quality about them. Janet was just a little more… aggressive at times, but then so was she.

"It's weird how we all seem to have clicked together," Carson stated "I mean, I know we're all in Atala together but we've all clicked outside the guild too."

"It's funny to think that three months ago we'd never met any of these people, it feels like I've known them my whole life, especially Janet and Marcus," Laura agreed and Carson smiled as he continued to eat his lunch. "You remind of Janet," she decided to tell him her earlier thoughts.

"Really?" Carson asked laughing "And why is that?"

"I have no idea," she admitted "I can't figure it out but you both seem to have… something," she tried to explain and shook her head at herself.

"Well we both want to be healers," Carson suggested and Laura shook her head again.

"That's not it, I don't know what it is," she told him and they both laughed. "I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually, in the meantime it will just drive me insane."

- - -

Their final free period for the Friday was coming to an end and they were all faced with the looming Defence lesson. Jack really hoped he didn't do something stupid, like tell Mathos what he really thought of him. Teyla was uncharacteristically quiet and she had them all worried. Ronon had obviously noticed something was wrong but Jack was fairly sure he hadn't been told just how bad Mathos' attention to Teyla was getting.

"We're gonna be late," Teyla stated as she stood up and grabbed her bag from the floor. Elizabeth and John followed suit, picking up their own things to follow her out of the building and Jack moved along behind them a little more slowly.

Once he was out of the cafeteria he ran to catch up to them and called to them, stopping them all as they turned back to him. "Let's just skip this lesson."

John and Teyla looked at him in slight surprise and Elizabeth looked downright shocked by his proposal but if it gave Teyla more time away from Mathos then it was more than worth it.

"You want us to skip lesson?" Elizabeth asked incredulously.

"That's what I said, come on, one lesson isn't going to kill us. We don't even have to skip out entirely, we can go the library and spend the next hour working on our projects which is what we would have done in lesson anyway," Jack explained and John seemed to b coming around to the idea.

"It's not like we'd be missing any work," he stated and Teyla nodded her head slowly, leaving only Elizabeth to agree.

"You don't have to come," Teyla told her and there were several moments of silence where Elizabeth seemed to be weighing up her options before she looked at Teyla.

"I'll come," Elizabeth agreed.

"What's the worst Mathos can do right?" Teyla questioned and then with a slight smile turned to head toward the library. Jack followed after her leaving Elizabeth to watch them go with a worried expression.

"You okay?" John asked her and Elizabeth nodded.

"I just think this is gonna come back to bite us in the ass," she stated and John put his hand on her back as they followed their two friends to the library, leaving the main building and their defence lesson behind them.

- - -

"The Alteran Council always hosts these stupid Christmas parties and since my dad is a member he tends to drag me along to them," Sam stated and then smiled at Daniel "And I tend to drag Daniel along."

"Yeah, she figures if she has to suffer then she's going to spread it around," Daniel replied solemnly.

"But they can't be that bad, free food and drink and everyone full of Christmas spirit," Cameron said and Sam and Daniel both shook their heads emphatically with painful looks.

"Free food and drink, yes. Christmas spirit, not really. There are a few people like my dad who love the holidays but the majority of them are boring, two faced, arrogant, cocky jerks who want to bore everyone with stories of how they worked their way into the council. Most of them couldn't care less about Christmas let alone feel any desire to spread a little Christmas cheer," Sam explained rather bitterly and Cameron decided it was best to just let the subject go.

"What about you Janet?" he asked as the brunette sat down along with Teal'c "What are your plans for Christmas?"

"Spending it with my parents, we usually go the Governors party on Christmas Eve so I'm sure Jack will provide plenty of entertainment. Christmas day is all about family in our house though. I can't believe it's only a few weeks to the Christmas holidays, doesn't seem like we've been here that long," Janet told them all and there were several nods around the table.

"Yet in other ways it seems to have been forever," Teal'c added and once again there were several nods of agreement.

"How do you spend Christmas Teal'c?" Sam asked.

"As a child Christmas was very much a family affair for us, after my parents died, when my father's friend adopted me he kept all of our Christmas traditions alive. We attend all the same parties and have a huge meal with some of our friends on Christmas day," Teal'c explained.

"I think it's safe to say everyone eats too much at Christmas, between parties, Christmas dinner and the amount of chocolate everyone gets I'm surprised we don't end up with epidemics of fatness every year," Janet joked and everyone joined in.

"Christmas decorations go up around the school next week," Daniel stated thoughtfully as though trying to picture what it would all look like.

"And then everyone starts singing Christmas songs so that by the time Christmas actually arrives you're so sick of hearing them that you want to strangle the carollers," Sam added and there were several grunts and sighs.

"You're just a picture of negativity today aren't you," Cameron stated and Sam narrowed her eyes at him.

"Don't get me wrong I love Christmas, there are just certain parts of it I would happily cut out," she defended as more members of their group arrived. Carson dropped into the chair beside Cameron with a heavy sigh and a plate of food.

"You know, I'm really kinda glad that it's the weekend. After I eat I intend to go back to my room and sleep through it," he informed them all as he dug his fork into the food on his plate.

"Wouldn't recommend that," Kate said as she too sat down with her dinner. "Defence projects are all due in less than two weeks and I know you and Daniel haven't finished yours yet."

Oh yeah, that," Carson replied with another sigh as he sunk back in his chair.

- - -

Elizabeth sat with her foot resting on John's lap as he wrapped a bandage around it carefully. "Make it look good," Jack instructed him and John stopped his actions to narrow his eyes at Jack.

"Remind me again why you're doing this," Ronon requested from where he was sitting with Teyla having been let out of Magical Ethics early.

"We skipped last lesson and this is part of our cover," Teyla informed him with a shrug.

"What's your cover, Elizabeth got hit by a carriage?" Cameron asked sarcastically.

"Nothing that dramatic," John replied as he continued to wrap the white fabric around Elizabeth's ankle. When he was finished he inspected his work approvingly. "A fine job if I do say so myself."

Elizabeth took her ankle back from John's hand and had to loosen her shoe to put it back on again. "Don't forget to limp," Vala instructed her and Elizabeth thanked her for the helpful advice.

"I have to go and get my things," she stated as she grabbed her bag "I'll meet you outside defence."

She left the cafeteria and went immediately to her dorm room grabbing the few things she need quickly and the stuffing them in her bag before leaving again. Adjusting the strap of her bag so that it sat more comfortably on her shoulder she left Raildon halls and cut across the grass toward the main building. She was halfway there when a call from behind her stopped her in her tracks. The girl heading towards her looked to be a couple of years older but Elizabeth had no idea who she was.

"Are you Elizabeth Weir?" she asked and Elizabeth nodded her head. You're Teyla Emmagan's room mate?"

"Yeah," Elizabeth replied, well aware of the seconds ticking by and her defence lesson looming ever closer. Something in the girl's voice though kept her where she was, she seemed nervous.

"I spoke to your room mate a few weeks ago but I don't think she really listened to me," the girl continued "Mathos has taken a special interest in her, my sister is in your class and she keeps me informed, she knows what he's like. When I was a year 1 he took a special interest in me too and I was very lucky that year. He gave me detention for something of nothing and I was completely alone with him. He grabbed me and I'm fairly sure of what would have happened next if I hadn't run off."

"My God, did you report him?" Elizabeth asked in shock.

"Yeah but there was no evidence, just the word of an eighteen year old who was known for not liking him. Mathos said he'd only touched my arm whilst he was talking to me and that I'd flown off the handle and run. The school board and the police found no evidence to the contrary and he got away with it. From what my sister tells me he's even more into Teyla than he was me. Mathos is good at this game, I thought I should tell someone, you have to watch her," the girl explained and Elizabeth shook her head in shock and disbelief, she'd known Mathos was capable of more than people thought.

"Thank you, I will," Elizabeth told the girl who nodded. "Who is your sister?"

The girl hesitated a moment before replying "Kimmie Rains, she sits in front of you. She wouldn't want me telling you so please leave her out of it."

The conversation ended abruptly and the girl walked away, Elizabeth could only take a moment to stare after her before running the rest of the way to the main building. She all but ran up the stairs to find the others all still waiting for her outside Defence, ready to face Mathos together.

"Where've you been?" Jack asked as she jogged down the corridor and came to a stop in front of them.

"Couldn't find my defence book," she lied and Jack and Teyla nodded walking into the room. John gave her a disbelieving look but if he knew she was lying he didn't call her on it. John walked and Elizabeth limped into the class room slightly behind the others so Elizabeth could look like she'd limped the whole way and Mathos' gaze landed on them all immediately.

"There had better be a good reason why the four of you weren't in my lesson on Wednesday," he told them angrily.

"We were in town before the lesson and I fell down some stairs and hurt my ankle," Elizabeth stated in her well rehearsed lie.

"We stayed with her while the lovely shop owner put a bandage on it and then had to take it slow getting back to the school," Jack continued and Mathos looked at them with complete disbelief.

"Let me see this bandage," he demanded and Elizabeth lifted her trouser leg slightly to reveal John's bandage around her ankle. Mathos stared at it for a moment and with no evidence that they were lying allowed them to sit down. Elizabeth kept up the show, limping to her chair which John held out for her.

Mathos was already sending glances at Teyla and glares to the rest of the group as he instructed them to work on their projects and reminded them they were due in on Friday.

He glanced at Teyla again when everyone started getting to work and Elizabeth looked at him, then Teyla and then Jack and John. She didn't know if she should tell them what the girl had said to her. Teyla hadn't told them and that was probably because she didn't want them to know, was it right for her to go and tell them? She bit her lip as she always did when she was thinking; she noticed John looking at her and quickly stopped.

"Are you alright?" he asked her quietly and she nodded her head, he gave her another disbelieving look but again, he didn't call her on it.

TBC


	25. Chapter 25

**Bunnylass – **I'm glad you liked the little part about Christmas and Laura's and Carson's scene, I try to make sure all the characters are included. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review. 

**Sparkly – **I have no idea where the gymnastics bit came from, it kinda wrote itself lol, glad you liked it though. Mathos makes a decision in this chapter that isn't so good for Teyla, hope you enjoy it. 

**Saphire – **Thanks for the review, things with Mathos get much worse in this chapter, hope you enjoy it. 

**Kuroima – **I'm glad you liked the gymnastics scene and the scene with the other characters; it's kinda hard to trying to include them all so it's good to know I'm managing lol. Thanks for the review.

**Steph – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter.

**Jammeke – **I'm glad you're enjoying the John and Elizabeth; I think they've both changed each other in this story which is what I was hoping to do. It's kinda hard including so many characters but I'm glad you enjoy their scenes as well, hope you enjoy this chapter. 

**AthosionWarrior – **Mathos is kinda psycho isn't he lol and he gets worse in this chapter, thanks for the review. 

- - -

Chapter 25

Defence had been a long and boring lesson; everyone had been making the finishing touches to their projects. John and Elizabeth had spent most of the lesson re-reading their project since they'd finished it last week. Once that was done, they'd put it all together, bound it in place and waited for Mathos to collect it. 

Elizabeth was glad that it was done but she'd been dreading this lesson. After this Mathos was going to move Teyla to the front of the class, closer to him and away from where Jack and John could keep a close eye on her. The girls warning from the other day had been echoing in her mind ever since. The young girl's sister Kimmie Rains, was sitting in front of her working on her project, oblivious to the fact that Elizabeth knew she was relaying information to her sister. 

Teyla was doing an impressive job of ignoring Mathos and Elizabeth had to give her friend her credit, she wasn't sure she'd fair so well under Mathos' constant scrutiny. The end of the lesson came and Mathos walked around the room collecting the projects and dismissing the students as he did so. 

He took the project from John and he and Elizabeth stood up to put the remainder of their things in their bags. Jack handed in his and Teyla's project, Mathos added it to the top of the pile he was carrying and looked pointedly at Teyla. "I'll expect to see you on the front row next lesson Miss Emmagan," he told her and Elizabeth watched as John and Jack bit back whatever response they had in mind.

"Yes sir," Teyla replied quietly as she put her things in her bag and refused to meet the Professor's eyes.

Jack put his hand on her arm urging to head toward the door before him and she did so without resistance. John and Elizabeth walked out of the room in front of her and once they were out Teyla immediately put on a happy face and headed toward the cafeteria. Jack and John followed her and Elizabeth was about to join them when she felt someone behind her. She turned around to see Mathos standing in the doorway to his classroom. He was watching Teyla walk away intently and when he noticed Elizabeth's gaze he turned and walked away.

Elizabeth watched him disappear into his class; he was completely fixated on Teyla, to the point where he didn't even seem to care if others were noticing. He wasn't trying to be subtle or careful about it. He was openly watching her and moving her to the front of the class. 

She heard the girl's voice in her head telling her that she had been lucky when Mathos had taken an interest in her and he seemed to be even more interested in Teyla. The bad feeling she'd had about Mathos in her first Defence lesson had grown exponentially since then but in that moment it increased ten fold. 

"Elizabeth," she heard John call from where he was waiting for her part way down the corridor. 

"Sorry," she said as she ran to catch up with him. Jack and Teyla had already disappeared around the corner and John looked at her curiously but she ignored it, she needed to figure out what to do first. 

"I'll think I'll go and get my books for this afternoon, you coming?" Teyla asked Elizabeth.

"No, I'll get mine later," she replied and Teyla nodded and left.

Elizabeth watched her go wondering what to do about Mathos and the girl's warning. The chances are that Teyla, being Teyla, would brush it off and say she was fine. It only really left Elizabeth with one choice and she didn't particularly like it. She was going to have to tell Jack and John, it felt like she was going behind her friends back but what choice did she have?

The three of them made their way to the cafeteria, thankfully the rest of the group who had the luxury of a free period before lunch had yet to arrive and she decided it was now or never. "I have something to tell you," she told them as they sat down and they must have detected something in her tone because they both abandoned whatever joke she'd missed and looked at her worriedly.

"A couple of days ago a girl spoke to me about Mathos, I think she might have been a senior. She said her sister was in our class and had been telling her about Mathos' attention to Teyla," Elizabeth paused to take a deep, nervous breath; she knew they were going to be mad at her for not telling them sooner.

"She said that a few years ago it had been her who was in Teyla's shoes and that Mathos had eventually given her detention as an excuse to get her alone," she continued and watched the emotion play across her friends faces, they knew what was coming. "He 'd grabbed her and she managed to run away before he got any further but she had no doubt of what his intentions had been. She reported him but there was no evidence so the charges were dropped."

Silence fell between them and Elizabeth braced herself for their reactions. "Why didn't you tell us before?" Jack demanded.

"She said she already spoke to Teyla, if Teyla didn't tell us it's because she didn't want us to know. I didn't know what to do," she defended.

"You should have told us straight away, or at least at the first chance you had," Jack told her, anger evident in his voice and she could tell he was reigning it in for her benefit. 

"You should have said something," John agreed, he was angry too but doing a better job of hiding it than Jack was.

"I didn't know what to do, I needed time to think," she told them, finding her own anger now. This wasn't exactly something that happened everyday, there was no handbook for it, she just had to figure it out for herself. 

"And if Mathos had tried something while you were thinking?" Jack questioned, he was almost shouting now and it was gaining a few curious glances from the people around them.

"Anything could have happened Elizabeth, you should have come to us," John told her angrily but far more quietly than Jack and Elizabeth had no idea how to respond. She didn't know how to defend what she'd done especially when they were both so angry at her for it. 

Any further argument was put to a halt by the arrival of Marcus, Laura and Janet. The three of them sat down making a joke about one of their professors completely unaware of the tension between their friends. Jack and John continued to look at Elizabeth with something akin to disappointment coupled with the anger. 

Elizabeth held onto her own anger for as long as she could before standing up and walking out of the cafeteria. She didn't look back even when she heard several of the unaware members of her group call after her. 

"Just let her go," she heard Jack tell them.

She walked out of the cafeteria and pulled her coat tighter around herself as she headed for the trees. She waited until she was out of sight of the school before she stopped and leaned back against one of the trees. 

She almost felt like crying, Teyla was getting herself deeper and deeper into trouble and Jack and John were both mad at her for keeping something important from them. The truth was, they were probably right. She should have told them about the girl straight away but even if she had, what good would it have done?

She'd had no idea what to do and she still didn't.

To make everything worse it started raining, a few drops of water at first but the torrential downpour soon began… and she couldn't bring herself to move. 

She'd known everything was going too well, nothing in her life was ever this easy, this good. She'd just seem to fall into friendships with the Atala's but especially with John, Jack and Teyla. Now two of the three were mad at her and Teyla would probably join them when she found out Elizabeth had gone to Jack and John behind her back. 

The other shoe finally seemed to be falling and the worst part was she had almost kidded herself into thinking it wasn't going to happen. She'd almost believed that maybe she could have this; maybe she could have no strings attached friendships and just enjoy her time at magic school... she should have known better. 

Listening to her own thoughts she almost had to laugh at how pathetic she seemed, it all sounded so pitiful and yet she couldn't change the fact that it was true. Completely drenched already and knowing Teyla would have returned to the cafeteria by now, she pushed herself away from the tree and headed back into school grounds and toward the dorms.

"Elizabeth," she heard John shout but didn't feel much like stopping to talk to him right now. It was only a few seconds before she felt a hand on her arm which forced her to turn around.

"What the hell did you go down near the river for in this weather?" he asked her as he looked her up and down noticing how completely soaked she was. She was shivering from the cold and her coat could only offer her so much protection.

"John, I'm not in the mood right now, I'll see you later," she told him and turned around to leave but the man was persistent and he followed her. 

"We're not mad at you," he tried to tell her over the sound of the rain and the occasional people shouting as they ran from one building to another. "Elizabeth, stop."

She kept going but when she heard him sigh she turned around to see him standing a few feet from her. "What?" she asked him.

"We're not mad at you," he told her again "We're mad at Mathos and Jack was just shooting the messenger, ignore him, you know how protective he is."

Elizabeth looked at the floor unsure if she wanted to hear this, it would be easier to just let go of her friendships now and let that be that. She didn't want to just let go though, she wanted to cling to everything she had gained here at Pegasus even as it was all crashing down around her. 

"I have to go dry off," she told him noting that they were both still getting completely soaked by the rain. "You should do the same, I'll see you later."

John took a moment before he nodded his head knowing that was the best reaction he was going to get from her. She turned around and continued her walk toward Raildon halls, there was no point in running now, the rain had already done its damage. 

- - -

"Come on Sam, shopping is always fun," Vala stated as she and Sam left Entrix towers and headed for the cafeteria. Sam pretended to consider the idea of going shopping with her friend before shaking her head. They passed by the three students who were becoming well known for being the trouble causers of their year. Kolya, Sora and Laden were walking out of the cafeteria and as soon as they were outside their mouths opened and spells came out.

Sora levitated their bags so none of them had to carry anything. Laden used a heat spell and Vala was fairly sure that Kolya was using a financial gain spell which was not only forbidden on campus but also against the ethical code. He mentioned something about leaving the crummy school and going into town for some real food as he patted his pocket which Vala didn't doubt was now more full than it had been before.

He then noticed that both Sam and Vala had watched the magical show they had put on. They both looked disapprovingly at him to which he simply smirked as he and his lackeys approached them. 

"Ladies," he greeted with a tone that made them feel more like pieces of meat hung out for show. 

"We're not allowed to do magic outside the classroom," Sam reminded him seemingly unbothered by him. 

"And I don't think any one is allowed to use financial gaining magic at all," Vala added disapprovingly and Kolya only smirked at them again.

"I don't what you're talking about, I saw no one use magic here… and neither did you," he told them and the not so hidden threat was obvious to both women. He looked them up and down with a leer that made Vala's skin crawl.

"Dream on," she told him and anger flashed through his eyes, obviously he wasn't used to people talking back to him or telling him he couldn't have something. 

"You'd do well not to get on my bad side," he warned them and Vala raised an eyebrow at him and gave him a look that almost dared him to do something. He took a step toward her but Sam quickly jumped in.

"Don't even bother," she told Kolya warningly and pushed the man back slightly. Vala would have paid big money to see Sam kick his ass but with his two lackeys in tow and Kolya's well known magical ability it might not have gone down that way so she let Sam drag her away before Kolya could do anything. She didn't need to look behind her to know that Kolya was probably contemplating coming after them. 

- - -

Jack looked at Teyla who was sitting next Ronon doing an excellent job of pretending nothing was wrong with her friends or her teachers. At the edge of the table Elizabeth was sat with her book, quiet and distant. She'd pulled away from them all again over the last few days and was back to the way she'd been at the beginning, no longer getting involved with the group. He hadn't realised how much that had changed until she went back to doing it. 

John had been rather quiet and he was missing his usual humour. He was currently sat with Marcus and Cameron discussing football but Jack could tell John was only paying the necessary amount of attention and rarely making comment himself, just nodding a lot. Jack himself had not gone unaffected; he knew he was being as uncharacteristically quiet as John was.

It had been him, John, Teyla and Elizabeth right from the beginning, their own little group even when the rest of the Atala's had joined them. Now it was falling apart and Jack had no idea what to do about it. He knew he shouldn't have shouted at Elizabeth the other day when she'd told them about the girl that had spoken to her. He'd been angry but that was no excuse for misdirecting it at her. 

If the other members of their group had noticed something was wrong they weren't saying anything. He found it hard to believe they hadn't noticed something, the four of them were usually fairly inseparable and now they were barely speaking at all let alone to each other. 

It was the first time since coming to magic school that Jack had wanted to be anywhere else. Something had to be done about it; he wasn't going to let Mathos rip their group apart. 

The four of them were free for their last period, so were Daniel, Kate and Carson but he knew they were going into town to do some Christmas shopping. He knew Elizabeth would go to library and Teyla would retreat to her room, John would most likely go to his but he was determined to fix this.

Lunch time came to an end and everyone headed off to whatever lesson they had. Jack watched his three closest friends walk away. John and Elizabeth had general magic but they were by no means heading there together. Teyla was free with him but from the looks of it she was going to go to the library to avoid him. 

This had to be fixed. 

- - -

Jack had been right, as soon as magical ethics had finished the four of them had gone their separate ways. Jack stood in the hallways outside the classroom for several minutes as he tried to figure out what to do. The only way they were going to fix this is if they talked which was kind of hard when they wouldn't even be in the same room together.

So, he'd just have to make them be in the same room.

He took off after John first knowing he would be the easiest to convince. He had to walk all the way up to John's room in Beltry towers and it took his friend way too long to answer the door. 

"We gotta talk," Jack stated "But first we get the girls."

"I don't think they wanna talk right now," John told him sadly.

"And _that_ is the problem," Jack replied and gave John a look that dared him to object. Knowing better than to stand in Jack's way when he was on a mission John sighed and grabbed his coat before following him.

Next stop was the library and as Jack expected he found Elizabeth there with her homework in front of her. He knew this would take longer than convincing John took so he sat down at the table and John followed suit. She looked up, surprised to see them but then looked back down at her homework. 

"Ignoring me won't make me go away," Jack informed her and she sighed in much the same manner that John had and looked back at him.

"What do you want?" she asked him with more patience than he'd expected.

"I think we all need to sit down and talk," Jack told her simply "Mathos has ripped us apart and we need to put ourselves back together before his lesson otherwise he wins."

"It's not a competition," she stated flatly and continued with her work.

"I know that," he replied "I'm sorry for shouting at you other day. You, John and Teyla are the closest friends I've ever had and I don't intend to let Mathos take that away from any of us."

That seemed to hit a chord because she stopped writing and after several moments looked up at him. Another few seconds and she nodded her head and put her pen down. Standing up she packed her things away and Jack picked her bag up for her only then realising he still had his own. 

The walk to Raildon Halls felt excruciatingly long and was filled with an awkward silence. Elizabeth walked into her room first and a surprised Teyla greeted them all with a flat acknowledgement of their presence. They hadn't actually told Teyla what was going on and that more than anything else had been what alienated her from the group.

Elizabeth sat down next to Teyla on her bed, Jack sat on the edge of Elizabeth's bed and John pulled up the chair near the dresser. "Now that we're all here, we need to talk. Teyla, we know about the girl that talked to you about Mathos," he began getting straight to the point. 

Teyla froze; she obviously hadn't been expecting that. "How did you find out?" 

"She came to talk to me," Elizabeth admitted "When she realised you hadn't really listened to her or were just pretending it wasn't happening she came to me… and I told them."

Elizabeth almost seemed to be bracing herself for Teyla's response, as thought she was expecting Teyla to blow up in her face and Jack realised just how stupid his own reaction had been. Elizabeth was closed off enough as it was and he'd probably made things a whole lot worse, he resisted the urge to hit himself. 

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked calmly and Elizabeth still didn't seem to think she was safe.

"What would you have said?" she questioned back "You would have said exactly what you're planning to say now. That it's nothing and the girl's wrong, that you can handle Mathos."

"You should have come to me, not Jack and John," Teyla told her, voice still calm and Elizabeth nodded her head and said no more.

"She didn't want to tell us," John informed Teyla "It was a couple of days later that she did. Mathos was really worrying her and she didn't know what else to do."

Finally Elizabeth relaxed somewhat went Teyla nodded in understanding "We were mad at Mathos and I took it out on her," Jack stated "Which I shouldn't have done and I'm sorry."

"And I didn't help matters," John continued "So I'm sorry too."

"And we should all have been honest with each other," Elizabeth added "So I'm sorry."

"And I'm sorry for being so pig headed, I knew Mathos was a problem and I should have told you all about the girl," Teyla took her turn. 

With everything, including the apologies, out in the open the atmosphere between them felt much better already. "See what a little group therapy does?" Jack joked brining a smile to everyone's faces "There's nothing like it."

- - -

When they walked into the defence classroom they were forced to part ways, reluctant as it was. John, Elizabeth and Jack moved to sit in their usual seats at the back of the class and Teyla had to go and sit front and centre. A pleased smile appeared on Mathos' face as he greeted Teyla.

"I'm gonna wipe that look off his face," Jack mumbled under his breath.

"Get in line," John replied and quickly removed the disgusted glare from his face when Mathos glanced at them. 

Teyla turned to look at them all, throwing them a reassuring smile. She was okay, at least for now.

Mathos began the lesson and spent far too much time leaning on the desk in front of Teyla. Once he'd set them work to do he gave Teyla more help from the teacher than the rest of the class got. Teyla tossed a look over her shoulder whenever she got the chance and they could do nothing but smile back and let her know they were keeping an eye on her. There was much relief when the end of the lesson arrived and Mathos had to dismiss them.

"I'll get your projects back to you as soon as I can, I do have rather a lot of them to grade. I'll see you on Friday," he said but was actually looking at Teyla when he said it. "Class dismissed."

"If I start cheering do you think I'll get in trouble?" Jack asked as he stood up and all but threw his things into his bag. 

"Probably," Elizabeth replied.

"Shame," Jack said as he threw his bag over his shoulder in record time and walked across the class to Teyla. He helped her with the last of her things and they met John and Elizabeth by the door. 

"All I have to say is thank God we have a free period now," Jack commented as they all left the room together "I need some cool off time."

- - -

If there was one thing Teyla hated it was how fast time seemed to move between her defence lessons. Of course when she was in them time would slow down… a lot. She pushed all thoughts of the Defence lesson she was only an hour away from facing and walked out of the cafeteria with Ronon.

She may have had a free lesson however he should really have been on his way to magical ethics by now. Not that he seemed to mind being late but she didn't want him missing something because he was here with her.

"You're about thirty seconds late you know," she informed him and he smiled and stopped walking.

"Colbrun is a nice guy, he won't mind me being a few minutes late if it's not a regular habit," he told her and then seemed to take a moment to study her. She looked down and had to try very hard not to blush under his scrutiny. 

"I'm kinda glad I picked you to help me prove a point to Elizabeth," she told him, looking back up at him and hoping she'd turned the tables on him. Ronon was not the type to get embarrassed though.

"So am I," he told her and true to his nature as a man of action he leant down and planted a quick kiss on her lips. If that's all he had intended it to be she'd have to find out later because she wrapped her arms around his neck and he pulled her closer. Crashing his lips against hers, his tongue demanded entry and she granted it with only a fleeting thought to passers by. Most people were probably in lesson or hiding somewhere warm anyway.

When they parted neither of them moved far "You really are gonna be late," she told him and he smiled and shrugged.

"Could miss the lesson all together," he told her suggestively and though she knew he was joking the thought did appeal to her. She mentally slapped herself and laughed, pushing him away slightly.

"Go to your lesson before you get in trouble," she told him.

"Fine, but we're continuing this discussion later," he told her and leaned down to kiss her once more before heading into the main building. Teyla smiled and stopped herself from doing any kind of dance, no mater how much her body wanted to. Instead she forced herself to turn around and walk back to the cafeteria so she could inform Elizabeth of her and Ronon's… discussion. 

Mathos stepped out from around the corner and walked to the spot she'd been standing in. Anger twisted inside him as he walked toward the door Teyla had just stepped through. He pulled it open, his eyes scanning the room and finding Teyla very quickly. She was talking to one of her friends, Miss Weir; she was smiling and very obviously excited.

He wouldn't stand for this, wouldn't allow it. That girl was his and he was going to make sure she understood that.

TBC


	26. Chapter 26

**Bunnylass – **Thanks for the review, I hate Mathos too and I'm glad the change of pace in the last chapter was enjoyed. I hope you enjoy this chapter too.

**AthosionWarrior – **I' glad you enjoyed the last chapter, thanks for the review.

**Saphire – **Creepy was my aim lol, I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Jammeke – **I'm glad Mathos creeps you out, he's supposed to lol. Thanks for the review, the scene between John and Elizabeth was one of my favourites to write, I figured he wouldn't just leave her upset. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Sparkly – **The next defence lesson is in this chapter so I guess you'll find out now. Sorry about the wait, I now you've been counting the day's lol. You're almost there Sparkly, just a couple more chapters to get through. Thanks for the review.

**Belanna30 – **Thanks for the review, Ronon and Teyla were rather adorable in the last chapter weren't they. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Kuroima – **Mathos seems to be creeping everyone out, I wonder why lol. I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too, thanks for the review.

**Steph – **Sorry for the evil cliff hanger, I'm glad you liked the insight into Elizabeth; more will be explained about her in part two. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 26

"Alright, I'm pretty impressed with the majority of these," Mathos stated as he walked around the classroom handing back the defence projects. "Miss Emmagan, you have the rest of the lesson to look through your project with your partner."

Teyla jumped out of her chair and all but ran to the back of the class room where Mathos handed her and Jack their work. "I'll need to see you both about this, I only have time to see one of you today so Miss Emmagan, I'll see you at lunch in my office."

Jack exchanged a look with John and Elizabeth as they too accepted their project back without even looking at it. Teyla just gave them all a small smile and a 'we'll talk about it later' look.

"On the plus side, we got an A," John stated as he looked at their project "Down side, it seems tainted."

"He hasn't even put a grade on ours," Teyla said as she looked through the masses of paperwork seeing lots of ticks and comments and nothing to suggest there was anything wrong with it. She shrugged "I guess I'll find out later."

Jack once again exchanged a look with John while Elizabeth just looked slightly panicked which was all lost on Teyla since she was still looking through the project. The end of the lesson came and the four of them left the room without even a look at Mathos. None of them said anything until they got to the cafeteria and sat down.

"I know what you're all thinking," Teyla stated "But I really don't think he's stupid enough to try anything, especially not in the middle of the school day."

"Teyla the girl who talked to me said that he did, he made a move on her and if she hadn't run off when she did…" Elizabeth trailed off leaving the rest of it up to the imagination.

"Look we don't know what he's going to do Teyla, maybe he does just wanna see you for the project but I'm not willing to take that chance," Jack told her adamantly.

"Yeah, I think we should all come with you, we can wait outside Mathos' office," John stated and when both Elizabeth and Jack nodded their agreement Teyla didn't really have a choice but to add her own agreement, from the looks on their faces, they weren't going to be deterred.

"Let's just get something to eat and deal with Mathos when the time comes," she said as she stood up and headed to the cafeteria.

"You think he's gonna try anything?" Jack asked worriedly and John looked at Elizabeth remembering what she had said all those weeks ago. That she thought Mathos was capable of more than they gave him credit for; he remembered her admitting the truth that she was actually afraid of him.

"I think it's a definite possibility," he replied as he stood up and gestured for Elizabeth to follow him to the end of the cafeteria queue where Teyla was already waiting for them. He let her walk in front of him and sent Jack a look, they were both worried.

Their free period was filled with a tense silence and only the occasional conversation. Marcus, Laura and Janet had been there for a quick dinner before rushing off to the library to catch up on some 'due in next lesson' homework.

When Ronon arrived for lunch the tension in the group increased ten fold which Ronon seemed to have no trouble picking up. "What's going on?" he asked and Teyla shook her head at Jack when he opened his mouth. "Teyla?" Ronon asked.

"I just have to go and see Mathos about my defence project is all," she told him.

Ronon looked at Teyla for a moment, then each of the other members of the group who were trying very hard to look like it really was 'all' but Ronon was not a stupid man. He gave them all an annoyed and disbelieving look before turning to Teyla again.

"Oh fine, Mathos seems to have taken an interest in me above and beyond that he normally takes in his female students," she told him as if it was nothing at all.

"And…" Jack began pointedly "An older student came to her and Elizabeth to warn them that when she had been in Teyla's shoes things got out of hand… if you get my meaning."

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked Teyla.

"I didn't want to worry you or have you go marching in there to kick his ass," she stated and Ronon looked to the rest of them.

"I should have been told," he informed them angrily.

"There's a lot of that going around in this group at the moment and we already had the 'we should all be honest' talk so let's just skip passed that," Jack said as he stood up and grabbed his bag from the floor. "And unless you want to be late, you need to go and meet Mathos now."

"Ronon, we're all going with her so if you wanna come," John told the larger man who stood up with his own bag and Teyla put a hand on his chest to stop him.

"Only if you behave yourself," she told him and Ronon hesitated a moment before nodding his head.

"I'll behave if he does," Ronon replied and Teyla sighed seemingly finding that sufficient enough and the five of them left the cafeteria.

If it wasn't obvious how worried Teyla was before then it was now. She was completely silent and ringing her hands together in front of her. Jack and Ronon were walking on either side of her as though they were trying to flank her and a worried Elizabeth was staying close to John.

Mathos' office was right next to his class room and once they were there Jack put a hand on Teyla's shoulder. "If he does anything, anything," he said stressing the word as much as he could "Shout."

Teyla nodded her head and then knocked on Mathos' door, hearing him shout for her to enter she opened the door and walked in. "Close the door," he told her and she did so without looking at any of her friends in the corridor.

"Miss Emmagan, I have to say that while your project was good I feel you could have done much better," he told her and gestured to the chair on the opposite side of his desk. Teyla hesitated a moment and then went to sit down in it.

"May I ask what grade it was given, you didn't put it on the work?" she asked only just keeping her nervousness out of her voice.

"It was given a B, this might sound like a good grade but it wasn't a high B and I know you can do much better. I feel as I said at the start that the person you choose to work with is to blame. I don't think you made the right choice of a partner to work with," he explained as he stood up and walked around the desk to lean on it beside her. Teyla kept quiet despite the fact that she knew her work had been better than a low B, she may not be a teacher but she knew that much.

"What I think would be best is for both you and Mr O'Neill to do an extra assignment, separately of course. If they are good enough I may be able to use them to increase your grades and make up for some of the marks you lost," he told her leaning down slightly towards her. "Now, this will require a lot of extra work on my part and I think it should be worth my while to do it."

The look in his eyes and the tone of his voice was enough to make Teyla feel more than uncomfortable and she was almost tempted to shout for Jack and the others. Instead she leaned back in her chair to put some distance between them.

"I don't know what you mean Professor," she stated, putting emphasis on the last word, maybe he'd go back to being a professor and not a sleaze. No such luck.

"I think you do Teyla," he told her; the use of her first name scared her more than his face or his voice and she got up from her chair.

"I think I should go," she said but he stepped in between her and the door and she backed away from him slightly. "I don't know if you thought bribing me would help but you were very wrong."

The comment was stupid because all it did was anger Mathos and let him know that pretence was definitely not necessary. He stepped forward and grabbed her arm, pushing her backwards into the wall.

* * *

Elizabeth and John were standing near the window where they'd all dropped their bags. Ronon was pacing up and down restlessly and Jack had planted himself next to the door where all he could hear were muffled voices. They were all worried but there was nothing any of them could do but wait.

"Hey you guys, thought you'd all be getting lunch," Vala said as she approached the group.

"Teyla's in with Mathos," Jack explained and Vala nodded understandingly.

"Yeah I'd kick him if he wasn't a teacher," she told them and they all smiled slightly at that.

"Get off me!" Jack heard Teyla shout, it was the only thing that had come through the door loud and clear and it was followed by "Jack!"

"That's it," Jack said as he pushed open the door. He heard John and Ronon rush in behind him and Vala shouting for Professor Colbrun. His mind almost froze at the sight of Mathos pinning Teyla to the wall as she tried to struggle free. He ran forward, wrenching Mathos off her with enough force to throw him back into the desk.

Ronon grabbed him and slammed him back into the opposite wall while John and Elizabeth ran over to where Teyla had dropped to the floor. "You're shaking," Elizabeth said quietly as she put her hand on Teyla's arm.

"Let go of me, I'll have all of you expelled for this," Mathos shouted as he tried to get free of Ronon's grip. John jumped up from Teyla's side and grabbed Mathos' free arm before it could connect with Ronon's face and pinned it against the wall with the rest of him.

None of them had noticed Vala and Colbrun enter the room and they couldn't be sure of how much the Professor had seen until he walked over to where John and Ronon were keeping Mathos in place. "Well Mathos, looks like you've finally met your match," he said with a look at all of the students in the room. "Guess you got caught."

Colbrun left Mathos pinned to the wall and turned around "Miss Malduran, could you go and get the headmistress please." Vala nodded and left the room quickly. "Miss Weir, perhaps you should take Miss Emmagan through to the defence classroom, I do believe those are the keys on the desk."

Elizabeth also nodded as she stood up and pulled Teyla up behind her, she grabbed the keys and put her arm around Teyla to guide her out of the room. Colbrun then picked up some tape from the desk and cut a piece off, placing it over Mathos' mouth before checking his pockets and removing several objects. "Wouldn't want you using magic to escape would we?"

Vala returned then with Principle Morlin who looked shocked enough when she walked in, the shock only increased when she saw Mathos pinned to the wall by two students. "Miss Malduran has filled me in on what happened," she said calmly as she entered the room. "Professor Colbrun, you saw this with your own eyes?"

I walked in to find Mathos pinning Miss Emmagan to the wall before Mr O'Neill pulled him off," he told her and Jack breathed a sigh of relief that the professor had seen enough.

"After all the complaints, I do believe I now have reasonable grounds on which to say this, Mathos you're fired," Morlin announced and seemed to take a great amount of pleasure in saying it. "Now, where is Miss Emmagan?"

"I had Miss Weir take her through to the Defence class room," Mathos told her and she nodded.

"And you were all witness to the events?" she asked and when she received several nods in response she continued "The police will want to speak to you all then, Miss Malduran, could you go and join Miss Weir and Miss Emmagan in the class room please. Tell them the police are already on the way and should be here soon."

Once again Vala nodded and left the room and Jack turned to where Mathos was still pinned to the wall. "Retinio," Morlin said before looking at the two students restraining their teacher. "You can let go of him now, the spell will keep him in place until the police arrive."

TBC


	27. Chapter 27

**Authors Note: Sorry for the wait for this chapter, I hope it was worth it. There's only one chapter left after this one, can't believe it's nearly finished. **

**Jammeke – **I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and how I dealt with Mathos, I rewrote that scene several times so its good to know it worked out. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**AthosionWarrior – **Thanks for the review, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**FeedtheFlames – **I'm glad you're enjoying the story and I hope you enjoy this chapter too, thanks for the review.

**Steph – **I was waiting to write that moment lol, I'm glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the review.

**Kuroima – **(joins in dancing) I figured it was just like the group to turn into Teyla's own personal bodyguards when she was in trouble and the teachers would most likely know about Mathos but like the students could prove anything until now. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Bunnylass – **I'm really glad you enjoyed the last chapter, I think I rewrote pars of it ten times lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter too and thanks for the review.

**Saphire – **I don't think Ronon would be too mad at being left out of the loop, he'd be internally annoyed and then let it go. I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter, thanks for the review.

**Sparkly – **I can't believe this story's nearly finished and just one more chapter to get through. I finally got to write Mathos getting what he deserved and I'm glad you enjoyed it, thanks for the review.

**Belanna30 – **I'm eager for the next instalment too lol, I'm gonna start writing it as soon as I've finished posting all the stories I'm already in the middle of which shouldn't be long now, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Jiskah – **Wow you spent tow days reading this? (gives cookies), I know I took my time catching Mathos but I got there in the end lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**N – **Thanks for the review, there'll be more Jack and Sam romance in part two of the series.

* * *

Chapter 27

Morlin had bound Mathos with some type of paralysis spell and the Professor was now stuck in the corner of the room. Ronon and John had reluctantly let go of him and along with Jack they had explained everything to Morlin, Colbrun and several members of the school guard patrol.

"Principle Morlin, the police have arrived," the Principles young aid informed them as he walked into the room.

"Thank you, why don't the three of you go and join your friends in the class room, I'm sure the police will want to speak to all of you," she told the three students who all nodded and immediately left the room.

They walked into the classroom to find the girls sitting at the back, Teyla was still looking a little shook up but less so than when she had left the office earlier. Elizabeth and Vala both looked a little traumatised as well as they sat on either side of Teyla. All things considered Teyla seemed to be relatively okay, the only sign to the contrary that anyone who didn't know her would see, was that she was gripping Elizabeth's hand.

Ronon walked straight over to her and Vala immediately vacated her chair to let him sit next to Teyla. Without letting go of Elizabeth's hand Teyla leaned into Ronon as he put his arm around her shoulder. Vala pulled up a chair on the end of the row and Jack and John did the same at the opposite side of the table.

"The police are here," John stated quietly and all three girls nodded.

"How are you doing?" Jack asked and Teyla was about to answer when Vala cut in.

"Not so good but I think I'll be okay," she told them humorously, knowing the question had been directed at Teyla but everyone smiled and that seemed to have been her goal.

"I'm gonna demand a recount on our Defence project," Teyla stated with a smile and Jack's eyes widened.

"Why didn't I think of that?" he questioned "They might even give us sympathy marks."

"Students," they heard someone say from behind them and turned to see Morlin and Colbrun standing in the door way. "Professor Mathos has been arrested and taken to a nearby jail; these officers would like to speak to you all. I will be present at all of the interviews and Professor Colbrun is going to stay with the rest of you. Miss Emmagan, I think its best we start with you," Morlin told them and after a moment Teyla stood up. She let go of both Ronon and Elizabeth and followed Morlin and the other two officers out of the room.

Colbrun immediately took her seat, sitting down with the rest of the group and lending them the comforting presence of a teacher. "How are you all feeling?" he asked.

"I think we've all been better," Jack replied and Colbrun smiled.

"I hear it was your birthday a couple of weeks ago, did you do anything nice?" he asked Elizabeth and they all recognised his attempt to take their minds off everything.

"Jack, John and Teyla planned a surprise dinner," Elizabeth told him.

"It was this really nice restaurant in town, we all had a really great time," Vala continued enthusiastically, succeeding in getting the conversation going.

* * *

"Now Miss Emmagan, before we begin, were you hurt at all?" Morlin asked her as she walked into an office just down the hall from the defence classroom. It looked like it belonged to another defence teacher but she had no idea who.

"No," Teyla replied quietly and took the seat one of the officer's gestured to. The two officers sat down opposite her and Morlin stood to the back of the room, obviously not wanting to interfere more than she felt was necessary.

"Let's get started then shall we?" one of the officers asked her "I'm detective Col; this is my partner detective Vega. I know this is hard for you but I need you to tell me what happened," he instructed and Teyla looked at him having no idea where to start. Thankfully Col seemed to notice "Start at the beginning, when did you first notice something was going on with Professor Mathos?"

"It was... from the first lesson to be honest. He had a little too much interest in many of his female students. He never really did anything particularly wrong though. He only ever flirted with the girls that were going to flirt back and with the others; he'd just lay a hand on their shoulders or stand to close. Nothing that we could really put in a complaint about," she explained, thinking back to those first few lessons when she and Elizabeth had sat at the back of the classroom and shook their heads at the girls who would sit at the front, smiling, flirting and flicking their hair.

"It was a couple of months before I started noticing he took even more interest in me. Jack and John weren't happy about it and I know Elizabeth was worried too, whenever I would have to stay behind after class they would make a point of saying they'd wait outside. Mathos started telling me that he didn't think I'd picked my friends well, that they were having a bad impact on my education. He wanted me to move to the front of the class, I told him it wasn't necessary and he kept pushing it until he told me that as soon as we finished our defence projects I had to move to the front."

"When was that?" Vega asked as Teyla looked at the piece of paper in front of her. Every word she was saying was appearing on the paper.

"A few weeks ago, I'm not sure exactly when," Teyla replied after a moments thought. "As soon as we handed our projects in I did as I was told and moved to the front of the class. He handed those projects back this morning and told me and my partner, Jack that he needed to see us both separately about it. He told me to come to his office during lunch. My friends weren't happy so they came with me and waited outside the office. I sat down and he started talking about how he knew I could do better and that he might be able to arrange extra credit assignments," Teyla continued to explain and then paused, this was the part she just wanted to forget had ever happened.

"I know it's difficult but we need to hear it from you," Col encouraged her and she nodded her head.

"He told me it would be a lot of extra work on his part and that I should make it worth his while. I told him I didn't know what he meant and he said I did. I got up and tried to leave but he stood in my way to stop me. I told him bribing me wouldn't work which was probably stupid because I think it made him mad. He grabbed my arm and pushed me back into the wall, I shouted for him to get off me and I think I called for Jack."

"That's Mr O'Neill right?" Col questioned and Teyla nodded.

"Yeah, he and the others came into the room. Jack grabbed Mathos and pushed him off me and I think John and Ronon pinned him against the wall. Vala came in with Colbrun who told Elizabeth to take me into the Defence classroom and we both left the room," Teyla finished and looked again at the paper that her words had appeared on.

"Miss Emmagan, at any point have you ever given Mathos reason to believe you were interested in him?" Vega asked her and Teyla snapped her head around to look at her.

"No," she replied slightly offended that they would ask that.

"Have you ever encouraged him?" Vega questioned.

"No of course not," Teyla told them.

"Relax Miss Emmagan, these are just standard questions, we have to ask them," Col informed her and Teyla sighed and looked at the floor. This whole thing felt like a bad dream, one she hoped she was going to wake up from any second.

* * *

Marcus ran into the cafeteria, his eyes scanning the room as he moved searching out his friends. He spotted them at their usual table and made his way toward them as quickly as he could, trying not to knock anyone over as he did so.

"Guys," he said breathlessly, reaching his destination and leaning on the end of the table. They all must have picked up the urgency in his voice because all of them looked at him worriedly. "The police just arrived, they've arrested Mathos." There was a chorus of questions from the group most of which were 'what' and 'why'. "Apparently he attacked Teyla in his office."

"Oh my God, is she alright?" Sam asked worriedly.

"I don't know, I know that Jack, John, Elizabeth, Ronon and Vala were with her but other than that I have no idea what's going on," Marcus explained.

"I knew Mathos was no good," Janet said angrily.

"At least now we know where they all are," Laura stated and Marcus slumped down into one of the empty chairs.

"Oh my God, have you heard?" a young woman asked as she joined a large group of girls, several of whom Marcus knew were Mathos fans. "Professor Mathos has been arrested, apparently he made a move on a student and she ratted him out."

News of Mathos' arrest spread quickly over the lunch period and various different versions of the story behind it had circulated by the time Vala walked into the cafeteria. She looked slightly shook up and obviously not in one of her better moods.

"Vala," Radek shouted gaining their friends attention and she offered them all a small smile.

"What the hell is going on?" Laura asked her.

"Is Teyla alright?" Carson questioned.

"What happened?" Teal'c asked her.

Vala was bombarded with questions before she'd even managed to sit down and since she was already looking fairly overwhelmed as it was Cameron held up a hand to shut everyone up. They all immediately silenced and waited for Vala to explain.

"Mathos attacked Teyla in his office; apparently he called her there to talk to her about her defence project. Jack, John and Elizabeth were already worried enough about the interest Mathos had taken in her so they went with her and took Ronon along too. I ran into them while they were waiting outside the office. We heard shouting so I grabbed Professor Colbrun as he was passing by and we all went into the office. Mathos had Teyla backed up against a wall, Jack wrenched him off and John and Ronon pinned him against the wall," Vala explained and a shocked silence fell over the group as they all took in what they'd been told.

"How's Teyla?" Rodney asked.

"She's pretty shook up; we all had to give our statement to the police and then Elizabeth, John, Ronon and Jack and took her back to her room. I came here; I figured you'd all want to know what was going on," she told them.

* * *

Teyla awoke to knocking on the door and rolled over to see Elizabeth walking across the room. The door was slightly around a corner so she couldn't see who was there but she recognised Jack's voice immediately. It was quickly followed by John's and both men accompanied Elizabeth back into the room.

"Well aren't you a picture of beauty on a morning," Jack joked as he walked over to her bed and pushed her aside to make room for him to sit down.

"Morning to you too," she mumbled as she buried her face in the pillow to try and block out the light and go back to sleep.

"Oh no you don't," Jack told her as he pulled the pillow out from under her head and her face hit the mattress. She rolled onto her back and glared at the intruder into her room to which he only smiled.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"Almost 10.00," Elizabeth told her and she sat up quickly.

"So why aren't we all in lessons?" she asked and they all looked at her incredulously.

"You are kidding me right?" John questioned from where he and Elizabeth were stood near the dresser. "Morlin gave us all the day off remember."

Teyla flopped back on her bed looking at the ceiling "So why are you waking me up?"

"Cos you're burning daylight," Jack told her as he stood up and grabbed her hands. He pulled her off the bed and marched her across the room to the bathroom. Elizabeth walked over and handed her some fresh clothes before closing the door and leaving Teyla alone in the bathroom. She loved her friends, she really did, but their habit of getting her up in the morning had to stop.

She showered quickly and dressed in the clothes that Elizabeth had given her; thankfully they actually looked good together, and left the bathroom. Ronon was now in the room as well and he was sat in the middle of the floor with the others as they all played monopoly.

"I believe that's 60 dollars you owe me," John told Ronon as his small metallic horse landed on a square that was obviously owned by John.

"Hey Teyla, why don't you come down here and help Ronon, he needs all the help he can get?" Jack asked her and Teyla smiled as Ronon glared at Jack threatening. She knelt down beside Ronon as everyone else diverted their attention to Elizabeth rolling the dice.

"How you doing?" Ronon asked Teyla, pushing several strands of wet hair away from her face.

"Not so bad," she replied honestly as she heard the dice roll again.

"Ronon, you suck at this game, you gotta pay attention," John stated and both Teyla and Ronon looked down at the game board to see Elizabeth had landed on one of the only squares Ronon owned. Since John had already rolled the dice, Elizabeth had gotten away with it and Teyla got the distinct impression John had done it on purpose.

"If we're not going to lessons then what exactly do you plan to do with the day?" Teyla asked as John missed Elizabeth's square by one.

"Well, this game could take a while and we have scrabble and Trivia with us as well," Jack replied, rolling the dice and sighing when he only got a two taking him right onto Elizabeth's square. Elizabeth held her hand out to him and Jack narrowed his eyes at her as he counted the money out.

The game continued for over two hours before Ronon bankrupted himself, courtesy of Elizabeth and Jack and John were already beginning lose the fortunes they had amassed. They declared Elizabeth the winner and packed the game away. "Who knew you were a corporate tyrant," Jack stated as he shoved the monopoly box out of the way and grabbed scrabble.

"You're just a sore loser," Elizabeth laughed as she looked at her watch. "A couple of us should go get lunch," she stated, standing up and grabbing her shoes and coat.

"I'll come with you," John volunteered as he jumped up from the floor and grabbed his own things.

"I'll wait here and set up scrabble, when you get back, you're going down," Jack told them and Elizabeth only smiled as though she knew something he didn't and then left the room with John.

They walked down the corridor ignoring the stares and the whispering as they passed people and made their way out of the building. They'd barely stepped out of Raildon Halls when they were surrounded by a rather large group of girls.

"You got Mathos arrested," they stated and from the sound of their voices they weren't part of the student body that were pleased about that. "What's wrong with you, why would you get a perfectly good teacher taken away?"

Though they seemed to be talking to both of them the questions seemed to be mostly directed at Elizabeth. "He attacked a student," Elizabeth told them and there were several scoffs and sarcastic comments thrown at her.

"Hardly, she should count herself lucky she was able to get such attention from him, some us didn't," one of the girls told her and Elizabeth looked at them incredulously.

"I'm sure lucky is exactly how she sees herself," she replied.

Fortunately John saw the girl's next move coming and he grabbed Elizabeth pulling her to the side and back against his chest. The girl's fist missed her but just barely "Mathos got what he deserved," John told the girls over Elizabeth's shoulder and then nudged Elizabeth away from the girls. "I suggest you go find someone your own age," he finished, putting an arm around Elizabeth's waist to keep her moving even though she seemed to want to stay there and finish the confrontation.

"What is wrong with those girls, Mathos attacks a student and they still rally around him?" Elizabeth questioned angrily. John didn't say anything as they continued to make their way across to the cafeteria. John's arm not leaving her waist for fear it was the only thing stopping her from going back and getting into an actual fight.

"Oh John," he heard an annoyingly familiar voice call and didn't even give the woman chance to talk to him as he walked passed her.

"Not now Chaya," he told her and didn't bother looking back to see her glaring. They saw their friends in the cafeteria, Vala was with them and seemed to be unfazed by the glares she was getting. Rather than go over and talk to them John and Elizabeth joined the cafeteria queue, well aware of the glares and whispers being sent their way.

They got meals for everyone as quickly as they could and thanked the cafeteria ladies when they bagged the food for them. They were out of the cafeteria faster than they'd expected to be and on their way back to the girls dorms when they were approached by another, smaller group of women.

"Congratulations on getting rid of Mathos," one of them said cheerily.

"It's about time he got caught," another one added and Elizabeth nodded her head and didn't stop until they were walking back through the door into her room.

"Whoa, you two look like you just got sent into the middle of a jungle," Jack commented as he saw them walk back into the room. The happy expressions they'd had when they'd left were gone.

"That's not a bad assessment actually," John replied as he and Elizabeth sat down and started routing through the bags for everyone's meals.

"We got swarmed by a bunch of very unhappy girls as we left," Elizabeth told them, obviously still annoyed. "I can't believe they're still rallying around that man."

"One of them actually tried to hit her," John added and Elizabeth took a moment to narrow her eyes at him. "They would have found out eventually," he defended.

"Are you alright?" Ronon asked her.

"Yeah, they missed," Elizabeth replied.

"And on that happy note, let's play scrabble," Jack stated ending the conversation and moving it onto the game at hand.

* * *

Having a day off from lessons yesterday had probably been a good idea, it had given them all a chance to calm down. Today had been a nightmare though, Jack been glared at or congratulated every few minutes since he'd left his room and Teyla had it worse. She'd been threatened several times over the course of the day and it wasn't over yet.

It was Friday afternoon and that meant they had a defence lesson which Jack knew was going to be the worst part of the day. Not only would Mathos' fans be glaring at her from the front of the class but it was a brutal reminder for Teyla of what had happened.

"We can skip the lesson," Jack stated for the tenth time that day but Teyla was being stubborn.

"And if we miss something important?" she questioned.

"We can always ask the teacher what we missed and catch up on the work later," Elizabeth suggested, surprisingly agreeing with skipping out.

"No, I have to face this sooner or later, I might as well get it over with," Teyla stated adamantly and John shrugged.

"We'll just have to throw paper at anyone who makes any comments," he said and Teyla smiled and nodded her head.

"Alright then," Jack gave in as they arrived outside their defence classroom. Teyla glanced at the room next door which was still barred off by police tape. Elizabeth placed a hand on her shoulder and Teyla nodded, taking a deep breath she walked into the room and to her credit she didn't react when the room fell silent.

The four of them walked to their usual seats at the back of the class and sat down, their teacher quickly diverting the classes attention back to him. "As I was saying students, I am Professor Kavell, I usually teach the Senior defence classes but Principle Morlin has asked me to step in and take over Mathos' classes," he told them and Jack didn't not fail to notice the loss of Mathos' professor title. It seemed the arrogant jerk of a teacher had not been well liked among the faculty. Kavell turned around to write something on the board which looked suspiciously like 'pop quiz'.

One of the girls on the front row turned around while the Professor wasn't looking and glared at Teyla, making a rather threatening gesture. Jack heard the tell tale sign of paper being screwed up beside him and turned to see Teyla tap Elizabeth and point to John. John raised his hand to throw the paper but Elizabeth grabbed his hand with hers and lowered it back to the desk.

"Teyla says no," she told him and both them and Teyla looked up when they saw a ball of paper go flying across the room anyway, it hit the girl on the back of the head and fell to the floor before the teacher could see it.

They all turned to look at Jack "What? She had it coming."

TBC


	28. Chapter 28

**Authors Note – This is the final chapter; I can't believe this stories finished. A huge thank you to everyone who has reviewed and stuck with me, as always you guys have kept me going with this. The next part should be up fairly soon, I promise lots more shippyness in the next instalment.**

**Jammeke – **Poor Teyla really does need a break doesn't she lol? I'm glad you liked the varying reactions to Mathos' arrest and the little bit of Sparky I put in there as well. Last chapter now so I hope you enjoy it and thanks for all your reviews.

**Kuroima – **I'm glad you liked the little bit of sparky I threw into the previous chapter and I figured the ending was just classic Jack. Thanks for your reviews and I hope you enjoy the final chapter.

**Sparkly –** Congratulations Sparkly, you made it all the way to the end! (Bakes the promised sparky cookies and hands you many plates full). I love monopoly too, I'm fairly good at is as well so that's a bonus lol. This is the last chapter so I hope you enjoy it and thank you so much for all your wonderful reviews.

**Saphire – **I'm glad you liked the corporate tyrant line, Elizabeth just strikes as someone who would be good at that game, well good at all board games really. Here's the final chapter, I hope you enjoy it and thank you for all your reviews.

**Bite Beccy – **Those girls really do need some psychological help but I suppose Mathos really was a charmer and they're at that age. I'm glad you liked the sparky bit I threw in there and I hope you enjoy this chapter, thanks for your reviews.

**Steph – **That really was a typical Jack thing to do lol. This is the final chapter, I hope you enjoy it and thanks for your reviews.

**Bunnylass – **I think Mathos was a guy you couldn't be indifferent about, you'd love him or hate him so his arrest would bring out reactions from anyone. I can't believe the stories over either but the next part shouldn't be log and in the meantime I can concentrate on my other AU's. Thanks for all your reviews and I hope you enjoy the final chapter.

* * *

Chapter 28

It had taken a couple of weeks for everything to start truly settling down, there was still glaring and very occasionally a threat but the whole Mathos mess was finally dying down. Teyla sighed as she dragged herself out of the bathroom ready to face another day of lessons.

Her father hadn't been able to come and see her after Mathos had been arrested, he'd sent her a letter in which he'd apologised about a thousand times and told her he wished so much that he could be there. Being a governor kept him busy though and he was in the middle of a long business trip to Alteran City and would be for another month. She'd sent him a letter back telling him that it was alright, that she was fine and she had a very protective bunch of friends that were taking very good care of her. He of course had immediately replied with another letter full of apologies and somewhere in there he'd slipped in a 'glad you have such good friends' and 'love you sweetheart'.

She hadn't bothered replying to that one yet, she was still trying to figure out how many different ways she could say 'apology accepted though not necessary'.

She dropped down into the chair by the dresser and picked up the brush and hairdryer to try and take care of her still messy hair. Elizabeth as usual had been showered and dressed before Teyla was even awake and was now putting her books for the morning into her bag.

"I suppose I can take comfort that it's the last day of lessons before the holidays," Teyla stated when she finally clicked the hairdryer off.

"And with this school's holiday spirit I wouldn't be surprised if we spend the day singing Christmas carols," Elizabeth joked though Teyla was sure she heard an element of seriousness in there somewhere.

"This school has Christmas spirit, whatever gave you that idea?" Teyla questioned humorously.

"I don't know maybe the 15ft tall Christmas tree outside the cafeteria and the tinsel craze that seems to have taken over the classrooms," Elizabeth replied in amusement and Teyla laughed softly as she ran the brush through her hair one last time and then grabbed her foundation.

"When are you leaving?" Teyla asked and Elizabeth paused for a moment with her copy of 'Understanding Sociology' still in her hand.

"I'm not," she finally answered as she continued her movements.

Teyla finished with her foundation and turned around on her chair to look at her room mate. "You're not going home for Christmas, why?"

"Long story," Elizabeth replied and Teyla cocked her head to the side, sensing her friend didn't want to talk about it so she just stood up and walked across the room.

"Well neither am I," Teyla told her cheerily and Elizabeth looked at her questioningly "My father's on a business trip remember. He did however tell me, I think it was somewhere between the 58th and 59th apology, that he has mailed me by Christmas presents. Poor man had to shop in Alteran City during the Christmas rush; even I don't think that's fun."

Elizabeth laughed at the serious and almost fearful sound in Teyla's voice and her friend smiled as she grabbed her own books from the shelf and started shoving them into her bag. "Breakfast?" Elizabeth asked and Teyla nodded as they headed for the door.

* * *

The first half of mythology had been filled with a lecture on whether or not some animal, whose name John could not for the life of him remember, actually existed. Finally their teacher got bored of it too and decided to end the lesson early but she would only do it on one condition, they impressed her with their rendition of 'We wish you a merry Christmas'.

So the entire class had sung their hearts out and John had learnt that many of the men in the class had terrible singing voices, as did many of the girls but that a few of them, surprisingly that included Teyla and Elizabeth, could actually sing.

Their teacher had clapped enthusiastically and handed out chocolates as they all left the room, all in all, not a completely bad lesson. They left the classroom, Jack somehow managing to get more than one chocolate and went to the cafeteria. Most of their group was already there since it seemed a lot of lessons were being cancelled today for some reason or another.

"Hey, how'd your lesson go?" Cameron asked.

"We learnt, we sang, we got chocolate," Jack summed up for them and looked at his watch. "And we got half an hour until Sociology."

"Well then you're in luck because the cafeteria has about six different cakes up there," Teal'c stated with a nod toward the cafeteria queue and Jack's face lit up.

"Cake you say," he said as he stood up and walked straight to the cafeteria.

"I'm gonna go make sure he doesn't get himself fat," Teyla stated and then ran to catch up with him as John and Elizabeth sat down.

"I can't believe it's Christmas already," Kate stated "Where does the time go?"

"When are you leaving?" Daniel asked her.

"Tomorrow, the first bus for Cadera leaves in the afternoon and since me, Laura and Marcus all live pretty close together we're gonna head out together, we already got our seats," Kate replied excitedly. "What about the rest of you?"

Sam and I are leaving on Sunday, the carriage arrives pretty early in the morning," Daniel told her and Kate smiled.

"Look at all you fancy people with carriages while the rest of us are stuck on the busses," Kate replied laughing.

"I'm not the fancy one, the carriage is technically Sam's," Daniel defended.

"Well I'm not going on the bus, I'm taking the train," Carson stated "Unfortunately I'm going with Rodney and Radek since we all live in Tralos."

"I feel for you," Daniel told him putting a hand on his shoulder in sympathy.

"Oh my God guys, have you seen all this cake," Jack stated excitedly as he sat down with a tray full of cakes.

"Teyla I thought you were going to stop him making himself fat," John stated as Teyla sat down next to Ronon.

"I did, you should have seen how much cake he actually tried to grab," Teyla defended.

"Hey, I brought it to share," Jack exclaimed "Feel free to grab a slice," he told them and several hands reached forward to take up the offer. "Not that one though... or that one... good Lord man, could you have got bigger piece," Jack continued batting peoples hands away from some pieces and watching in dismay as others were taken.

* * *

Laura threw the last of her things into her suitcase and then sat on it while Janet zipped it shut. She then jumped off it and admired their handiwork "I didn't realise I'd acquired so much stuff in the last few months," she stated and Janet laughed as she went to finish her own packing. "I'd better head down to the gate; the bus will be leaving soon."

"Hold on, I'll come with you," Janet told her as Laura pulled her suitcase off the bed. It hit the ground with a heavy thud that Laura was sure would have made anybody in the room below wince. Fortunately it had wheels on it and she took hold of the handle to drag it out of the room. Janet had to pick up the other end of it since it took both of them to get it down the stairs.

There were already several people on the bus when she got there and she could see Marcus and Kate saying their goodbyes to the other members of the group that had shown up to see them off.

"Be good," Kate instructed Jack who gave her a look of mock hurt and then hugged her before shaking Marcus's hand. Laura handed her suitcase over to the men packing them onto the bus and then went to join the rest of her friends. She hugged almost everyone, shaking hands with the few she either didn't want to hug or knew didn't want to be hugged. She then turned to Janet and hugged her.

"You'd better write," she told her as she hugged her and Janet pulled back and smiled.

"And so had you," she replied and then turned to Marcus "That goes for you too."

Marcus nodded and hugged her "Try to keep out of trouble," he told her and she nodded her head as she let go of him. Kate was finished hugging Carson and Daniel and then went to get on the bus, Marcus and Laura were right behind her and the three of them quickly found some empty seats together. The bus was filled less than a minute after they sat down and they waved out of the window as they left magic school behind for the holidays.

* * *

Kate, Marcus and Laura had left yesterday; Sam and Daniel had left that morning for which they had all dragged their butts out of bed for. Teal'c had left shortly after that, Vala only minutes later and in the early afternoon, the Earleth members of their group had gone, except for Jack whose carriage was currently waiting for him. Carson, Rodney and Radek had just left on the bus for the train station and that left only Jack, John, Elizabeth, Teyla and Ronon, the last of which was now saying his goodbyes.

He shook hands with everyone except Teyla who he hugged then refused to let go of, Teyla wasn't complaining but his bus was about to leave and Jack and John were left with the task of prying him off.

He finally let go of her and kissed passionately, Jack, John and Elizabeth all turned around and took great interest in the structure of the wall. "It's a really nice type of brink I think," Jack stated and Elizabeth nodded.

"I see what you mean," John replied in agreement.

"Bye guys," they heard Ronon shout, they turned to wave to the friend and Jack moved toward Teyla, putting his arm around her when she looked about to cry.

"It's only a few weeks, don't go get teary on me," he told her as she waved to Ronon one last time before the bus drove away.

Another carriage pulled up outside the gate and John turned to them "And that would be my driver," John told them as the driver jumped down from the carriage and approached them.

"Master Sheppard," he greeted and John smiled.

"Greg, how have you been?" he asked.

"Fine sir and you?" Greg questioned.

"Great," John replied as Greg gestured to the suitcase by his feet.

"I take it this is yours," he stated and John nodded before Greg picked up the suitcase and carried it back to the carriage.

"And now I get to enjoy my four day trip back to Cadera," he stated sounding very unexcited about the idea.

"Ha, I got you beat, its six days from here to Earleth," Jack told him "I suppose I should get started on that," he added with a glance at his driver who was still waiting patiently for him. He turned to the two girls he was leaving behind here. "I still don't like leaving you here alone."

"We'll be fine," Teyla stated "It's only a few weeks and there are a few other students here as well as a couple of teachers."

"But its Christmas," John reminded them, neither of them were happy about the girls staying here over the holidays.

"We'll be fine," Teyla repeated with emphasis "We'll do some shopping, yes I know be back before dark," Teyla stated, forestalling the lecture on staying safe both girls had already received a dozen times. "The School has its own Christmas dinner on Christmas day and you've all left us a huge pile of presents to open."

Jack still seemed reluctant but seeing as he didn't really have a choice in the matter he sighed and hugged Elizabeth. Beside him John hugged Teyla until they switched "Don't you open those presents before Christmas day," Jack warned her and Teyla smiled mischievously.

"Of course not," she replied as she hugged him back. He let go of her and saw John release Elizabeth.

"Have a good Christmas, I'm expecting letters," he told her and then looked at Teyla and Jack "From all of you."

Jack and John shook hands and hugged briefly before exchanging their final goodbyes and heading toward their respective carriages. Jack waved to the two girls from the carriage until they disappeared from view.

* * *

A few days into the Christmas holidays and Elizabeth had been on two shopping trips, eaten several meals in fancy restaurants and stopped Teyla peaking at her presents more times than she cared to count. The large stack of shiny, wrapped gifts were rather tempting and when Elizabeth looked at them she realised just how much her life had changed in only a few months.

"Teyla get your hands away from the presents," she said without even looking up from where she was sat on her bed, book in hand.

"Just one," Teyla pleaded and Elizabeth lowered the book to see Teyla still on her hands and knees from trying to sneakily crawl across the floor.

"Not until Christmas day, it's only a few more days," Elizabeth told her and Teyla sat back on her heals with a pout that could only make Elizabeth laugh. "Why don't you finish writing you letters to John and Jack, that way we can post them later today," she suggested and Teyla finally sighed in defeat and went to sit at the desk.

Yep, her life had definitely changed.

TBC


End file.
